Radiant Shadows
by Briane94
Summary: Laurel Flamel never realized what would happen when she befriended Harry, Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts. Flash forward three years and there in their fourth year together. And Laurel is starting to fall for her best friend. Add in the complications of the Tri-wizard tournament and this is going to be an interesting year. OC/Harry!
1. The Perfect Dress

**Author's Note**

I do not own Harry Potter, all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

So to begin with, I'd like to tell you guys about my plans for this story. The plan is for this to be a Harry/OC story. I want them to gradually fall in love. I don't want it to be the usually lets go to the Yule ball as friends and then realize oh we actually like each other. I personally think that plot has been overused and it gets really boring reading the same type of story. This one will have little things that change the way that Harry and Laurel look at each other, and yes they will go to the ball together, but knowing that it will be their first date kinda thing. I was thinking of maybe adding a soul bond, but I don't know yet, maybe if I can think of some interesting ways that they can use it for, maybe Laurel gets Harry's ability to talk to snakes and Harry gets some talents of Laurels which you will find out about in time.

Like I said, there will be changes. Also this story will defiantly not be about an OC character that just steals Ron's and Hermione's lines. But you probably already figured that one out. I love Harry Potter and want to do this story proud and I hope you guys like it. Reviews are welcomed as well as any ideas you have or thoughts towards the story. As long as you respect the story and myself, negative comments are welcome, but please be nice. You aren't here to judge. We're all here because we love Harry Potter!

I also forgot this story is starting from book four. I just find that by the time you get through the first three books in a fanfic it gets kinda boring. There's nothing you can really change in the first three that will change the story that much. Maybe Harry is believed about Sirius being innocent. I couldn't really think of any reason to include them. Maybe if I finish this story I might go back and write the story on the first three.

Here goes! I hope you enjoy. Please review and let me know what you think.

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Perfect Dress**

 _Dear Harry,_

 _How are you? I hope your family wasn't as bad as they were last summer. It must be dreadfully hard to try and finish all your assignments and such while having to take on the responsibilities of a house elf. If you'd like to come over for a week or so before going to the Weasley's, Mom doesn't mind. She even encourages you to come over so that you can get your assignments finished on time, so you won't do them at Ron's. I can just see the two of you saying you'll do it later and having to stay up all night after the feast to finish it all. It's up to you though, if you'd like I can come pick you up Monday. Does 1 o'clock sound alright? Let me know._

 _I'm doing fine as well; it's been great here at home. Mom isn't here a lot, she's always working, but I don't mind. I've finished all my assignments (not before Hermione though) and I'm going through the textbooks for the fourth year. It looks pretty hard compared to last year, but the potions textbook looks really exciting. I'm also staying at Hermione's for a couple of days. I'm meeting her today at the Leaky Cauldron. It's going to be so much fun! Did you notice that you need dress robes this year? We'll be going shopping to find ours. I wonder why we'll need them. But I guess we'll find out soon enough._

 _I'm so excited for the Quidditch World Cup! I can't wait. Mom got Hermione and I tickets as well! Right next to you and the Weasleys, in the top box. It's going to be great. Mom also wrote to Mr. Weasley and asked if it was alright if we came along with you, so we'll be staying at the Burrow as well. I know that neither I nor Hermione are big fans of Quidditch, but still its a once in a lifetime chance to see it._

 _Well, its almost time for me to leave. I hope you can come over next week!_

 _Love,_

 _Laurel_

 _P.S. Have you heard from Padfoot? I hope he's OK as well. Send him my regards._

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Smiling to herself, Laurel sent the letter off with her mother's owl Apollo, a beautiful red owl with brilliant orange wings. With a hoot, the owl took flight and exited the house from the open living room window.

Looking at the time, Laurel swore mentally and quickly dashed upstairs through the main foyer and turned right towards her wing of the house to get changed. She was so going to be late. Why did her house have to have so many stairs? It wasn't really what you considered a house, more like a mansion, but because of the ancestral magic throughout the house from thousands of years of wizards and witches, the house had many charms and enchantments that deterred anyone, not of Flamel blood. Most ancient and noble houses were the same, it was a tradition to live and grow up in the ancestral house.

Almost out of breath from the workout, Laurel quickly changed into the clothes she had laid out, light blue jeans paired with a blue blouse with lace on the short sleeves and cream colored flats. Going to her mirror she quickly brushed her hair and looked at herself in the mirror.

Her usual face was reflected; golden blonde hair that fell to her shoulders in soft waves, light blue eyes and lightly tanned skin from spending more time in the sun than she usually did at Hogwarts. With a last quick assessment, she deemed herself ready, grabbed her handbag, and went down to the fireplace in the formal living room. Checking that her wand was in fact in her wand holster (just in case, you never know when you might need it) and that she had her shrunken bag safely in her pocket, she grabbed a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"The Leaky Cauldron," she said as the green flames erupted from the fire, sending her spinning around until she landed on solid ground once again. Grimacing at the soot on her shirt, she reached out to grab her wand before a familiar voice said "Scourgify."

"Hermione!" Laurel shouted as she hugged her best friend. "I hope I'm not late, I did try to get here on time but it took longer than I thought to write to Harry, and then I just started thinking about the fourth year and what it's going to be like."

"I only just got here myself, I lost track of time while rereading my charms assignment. I can't believe I almost missed an error on my paper," Hermione stated while frowning at the thought of a mistake. Laurel looked at her friend. Her hair was longer, and like Laurel, she had a slight tan from being outside more. Hermione looked great. She had gotten taller, and now that her front teeth were smaller, she really showed off her smile.

"At least you noticed it before you handed it in," Laurel replied while trying to hide a smile at her friend's antics. "Are you excited? We have to find our dresses first, and then I'm thinking shoes and jewelry, then lastly Madam Cheri's beauty salon for hair products and pins."

"As long as we can stop at the bookshop on the way out. How long do you think all this should take? I told my mom to pick us up around four."

"That's fine. The dresses shouldn't take too long to find at Twilfitt and Tattings. You'll see."

As they walked they chattered about random things, how Hermione's studying was going, what they'd be doing at her house for the next couple of days. Laurel was really curious to see what a muggle house looked like and what her family did for fun. Hermione has also just gotten back from a camping trip in the forest of Dean and was trying to explain how Muggles chose to sleep in "medieval huts" for fun.

"Here it is." she gestured at the formal looking dress shop. Upon entering they were greeted by a witch in formal robes.

"Hello, my name is Victoria and I'll be assisting you today," The woman smiled at Laurel and Hermione while herding them further into the store.

"Hi, I'm Laurel and this is Hermione. We're looking for dress robes," Laurel said as Hermione nodded at her name.

"Hogwarts I take it. We've had a few students already come in throughout the week needing dress robes. You've come to the right place. Now have you both been here before?"

"I have," Laurel said.

"I haven't," Hermione said. "Why?"

"That's alright dear; it's easy enough to understand. We do things differently here. It's quicker than your normal dress shopping. We found it took ages for customers, especially witches, to find the right dress. So the owner, Madam Bella, developed an ingenious way for customers to find the right robes. You notice that we don't have racks of dresses and robes all around the shop."

"Yes, where are the clothes?" Hermione asked, noticing this for the first time.

"It's because once you step into the dressing room, you can tell the mirror what you want, it will give you choices, and show you what you'll look like in each one. Then we can find the ones you like and you can try them on in person to see if you like the fabric and fit. It takes less time, and it's more fun," Victoria finished. She laughed a bubbly giggle and led them both into different dressing rooms. Laurel stepped inside as the deep purple curtain closed automatically.

"Just give me a shout when you've found something you like and you'll grab it for you."

Laurel looked around. The room was pretty nice, it had been redone since the last time she'd been here. The room was painted a soft cream, and lights were attached to the full-length mirror. A plush chair was seated at the corner of the room along with a table and fresh glass of water.

Laurel called out to Hermione. "Let me know when you've found something and I'll come and see it."

"Same to you", was her reply.

Looking back at the mirror, she stepped in front of it and watched as her image looked back at her. "Now dearie, what are we after today?" an older woman's voice said. "With that lovely golden hair, you should go for blue tones, a darker royal blue or a light baby blue."

"Mmm, I think I might try light blue."

As she watched, the mirror swirled and came to a rest with her wearing a light blue dress, long sleeved with lace trim on the edges of the dress.

"No, maybe something less mature, and silver in the dress." Again the mirror swirled and rested with another dress, this time a lighter blue, almost white, with a silver pattern around the bottom of the skirt. It was closer to what she was looking for, but it still wasn't right.

"You're getting closer, but it's just missing something." The mirror swirled again, and she saw the dress that she knew was the one that she was going to wear. The dress was light blue and silver in color, sleeveless, with a high neckline. The top was sheer at her chest but in a nonrevealing way, with a lighter blue and silver pattern that reminded Laurel of a frozen river covered in snow. A silk ribbon was wrapped around the top of her waist, separating the top part of the dress from the flowing skirt. It was the one. Not too simple, but not so complex that it took away from her appearance.

"Gorgeous!" The mirror exclaimed. "You knew what you were looking for from the start. I think this might be a record for me." Giving herself a once over again, Laurel smiled, her eyes glittering in the light. It really was lovely, the perfect color that matched her eyes.

Walking back into the shop, Victoria was at her side in an instant.

"Did you find one that you'd like to try on?"

"Yes please, this one," Laurel replied as she walked back into the dressing room with the assistant.

"Oh it's perfect. Great colors on you. Just one moment and I'll grab it for you."

Deciding to see how Hermione was going, Laurel went back outside.

"Hermione?" Laurel shouted, "Have you found anything?"

"Maybe. But I don't know, I think it's too pink", was her reply.

Pink wasn't a color that Laurel associated with Hermione because she didn't wear it a lot. But maybe a dress that was bright and new was something that Hermione needed this year. Something that said 'I'm not just about books and study.'

Brushing the curtain aside, Laurel walked into Hermione's room. Looking at the mirror, Laurel was stunned. Hermione looked beautiful. The mirror had even put her hair into a half up half down style with curls going over her shoulder. The dress was made from a pink silk, with a v-shaped neckline, that ruffled down from a pale pink into a deeper, almost purple color. Separating the top from the skirt was a silk sash the color of deep purple. The see through sleeves ruffled out lightly onto her shoulders, completing the dress.

"Oh my god. Hermione! This dress is beautiful. You have to try it on!"

"Are you sure it's not too pink?" Hermione frowned, unsure.

"No, it's perfect. You're allowed to dress up like a girl every once in a while."

"I know, but it just doesn't feel like me. It feels like I stand out too much."

"You can stand out for once Hermione; you don't have to hide behind a book all the time. I'm not saying you have to be like the girl in the mirror every day, but how many times are you doing to go to a ball with your best friends?" Laurel asked kindly.

"Thanks. You're right. I'll ask to try it on."

They both walked out of the dressing room just as Victoria came over with a garment bag.

"Laurel, this is for you. Once you try the dress on, it will automatically fit your frame perfectly. No need to waste time measuring and figuring out sizes," she said while hanging the garment up in her dressing room.

"Now, Hermione. Have you found something you'd like to try on?" Walking over before they could answer, she looked at the mirror and gushed, "It's lovely, you girls really can pick them. I'll grab it for you right away."

"Would you like to put them on together?"

"Yes. Just wait for me," Hermione replied as Laurel went and got changed. Closing the curtain, Laurel walked over to the white garment bag and unzipped it. Falling out almost like a waterfall, was the dress.

Laying her hand on the fabric, she could feel how soft and light the dress was. Quickly changing, she got into the dress. Unable to do up the little silver buttons that ran all the way down her back, she waited for the telltale sound of Victoria coming back and asked for her help. Once she was done Victoria helped Hermione into her dress and they both came out.

"You look great!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

Giggling, they bought both dresses. They would be delivered in about three weeks or so once they were ordered from the store. After that, the girls headed off to find matching shoes and jewelry. Laurel ended up with simple silver diamond earrings and silver strappy shoes with a small heel while Hermione bought light pink heels and pink diamond earrings in the shape of flowers.

With one quick stop (for Hermione at least it was quick, for Laurel a long trip) to the bookstore and four books later they were ready to be picked up.

"You've never been to a Muggle house before, have you?" Hermione asked as they waited outside the Leaky Cauldron for Hermione's father.

"No, you're the first. What's that thing again that your dad will be driving? A bus?"

"No Laurel, it's called a car", Hermione laughed. "You're going to have so much fun at my place. I'll show you how we inferior Muggles cook and we can even watch a movie tonight."

"Ah yes, a car. I remember it now. An automobile", Laurel said factually.

"Yes, but we don't call it an automobile, car is fine." Hermione grinned. "There's my mom, come on." Following Hermione to a silver car pulling into a parking lane, Laurel stood unsure as to how to get into the car. Sighing, Hermione showed her how to open the door and put on the weird strap that was apparently for protection.

"Hello Mrs. Granger, thanks for picking us up," Laurel said.

"Laurel, lovely to see you again. It's no problem. William is at our practice working, so it'll just be us three until he gets home tonight around six. Hermione dear, did you want to help Laurel put her things in the back?"

"Oh, it's fine. I've got my bag shrunk in my pocket. All I have to do is tap it with my want to unshrink it."

"Wow, really? We need to invest in one of those for Hermione. With a number of books she has, it's impossible for her to take them all to school."

"Mum," Hermione groaned in annoyance.

"You know you can buy them, or even charm them yourself once you're at school. But once I get back home I'll send it with Apollo," Laurel promised.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Sure, I already have my trunk charmed with the same charms for school. So I don't need it. And once we get to school I'll show you the spells, and you can bring some bags and charm them yourself." Laurel made a mental note to bring her mother's charm book that had the spells in them.

"I wish I'd thought of this years ago. Can you imagine all the books I would bring? The extra material for our assignments. And you can use them too," Hermione exclaimed as Laurel and Mrs. Granger looked at each other through the mirror.

The drive to the Granger's was enjoyable. Laurel and Hermione chatted away while her mom made the occasional comment. In no time at all, they were pulling up into a long driveway. Looking through the window, Laurel saw what appeared to be a very nice house, or so she thought by Muggle standards. She didn't really have anything to compare it to. It was a two-story white brick house, with huge windows throughout. Roses were planted all along the front porch, with a water bath sat in the middle of the garden. There weren't any gnomes in sight. Odd. No fairies or anything. They would have loved the roses and garden.

Not needing help to open her door this time, Laurel jumped out once the car stopped moving and grabbed her shopping bags as Hermione and her mother got out. Hermione led her to the room where she was staying, while her mother left to get dinner ready.

"So this is where you'll be staying, I hope it's alright. Mum washed the sheets today so everything is clean," Hermione said opening the door to a spare room. It was nice. The room was pale blue, with cream curtains and a silver comforter. A wooden dresser sat to the side with a mirror on top.

"It's great! Much nicer than sharing a room with you and Ginny at the Weasleys. Not that I mind. It's fun, like a sleepover. But sometimes I feel like such a burden. Mrs. Weasley is lovely but..." Not able to finish, Laurel stopped talking, not wanting to sound rude.

"I know. I feel that way too. Which is why it's great that you're staying over this time. Oh, and the bathrooms are just over there. You and I have to share, but that shouldn't be an issue after sharing at Hogwarts for three years."

Just as they were walking back downstairs, a high pitched voice started whinging throughout the house.

"Eeeep." Laurel squeaked and tripped down the last two steps. "What the bloody hell was that?" she groaned from the floor. Looking not at all concerned, Hermione burst into laughter, so hard that she started crying.

"I'm so sorry Laurel. I forgot to mention that. It's the telephone. When someone's trying to call you it makes that noise. It's similar to a firecall," Hermione said through her laughter. Huffing at Hermione, Laurel got up with as much dignity as she could as she glared at Hermione in mock annoyance.

"You finished yet?" Laurel asked with her hands on her hips as Hermione wiped her eyes.

"Just about. It was just too funny. If only Ron and Harry had been here to see it."

Later on that night, Laurel and Hermione stayed up watching a new movie, an animation Hermione had said, called the "Lion King". Laurel found it to be rather enjoyable and made Hermione swear that she wouldn't tell anyone that she had cried when Mufasa was killed. By the end of the night, Laurel was exhausted from all the new information that was swirling around in her head. Witches and wizards were raised to believe that they were superior to muggles. That muggles were primitive and unintelligent. But just from spending time with Hermione's family for one night, Laurel was amazed at the things they had accomplished. It really was amazing. Her mother had never really taken her out into the muggle world, and she'd never taken up Muggle Studies because she hadn't really been bothered with it. But now she was rethinking a lot of things. Wizards had no idea what Muggles were capable of. It was sad really, how her kind thought they were so above it that they didn't even educate themselves. And even sadder, Laurel didn't bother to educate herself either. With a tired sigh, Laurel sunk deeper into the pillow and fell asleep. Ready for tomorrow.

 **Author Note**

The first chapter done! I hope there aren't many spelling mistakes. I personally cannot stand rereading my writing. I feel like to me it's horrible and the style it too childish and lacks detail and fluidity. So this first chapter is about setting the scene on Laurel's role within the group. Laurel and Hermione are best friends. In a way better than Harry and Ron, since they both like to study and get their homework done in time.  
I also feel like I've dumbed down Laurel and her knowledge of the wizarding world, but I thought about it, and Ron's dad loved muggle stuff, so Ron probably had a little bit more knowledge them most wizards about muggles but Ron still couldn't figure out how to use a telephone or send mail. So even though it looks like Laurel is kinda ditzy about the muggle world, it's just because it's her first time in a muggle house.  
Please review and let me know what you think; ideas and suggestions are welcome.


	2. Zoos and Cafes

**Authors Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

So chapter two is up! Slowly but surely it's coming along. I'd like to thank my first reviewer TheRavenclawWeasley. Reviews mean so much and I love hearing that someone likes the story, especially because it's so new and I get that no one really wants to read a fanfic that's only got one chapter. So thank you! This is a short chapter, I'm trying to quickly get to the exciting parts as quick as possible without taking away from the first couple of chapters.

Remember to review guys. I live for reviews.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Zoos and Cafes**

The next morning, Laurel woke up to tapping on her window. Groaning in annoyance, she opened her eyes towards the sound. It was coming from the window. Slowly getting out of bed and opening the curtains she saw a snowy owl glaring at her on the window panel.

"Hedwig!" Laurel coughed at her dry throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were there". The owl looked at her in annoyance while hopping into the room and fluttering onto the bed. Going over to her bag, she walked over in her short blue bottoms and white tank top. She knew she packed owl treats somewhere. Finding them, she put two on the bed beside Hedwig and grabbed the letter that the owl had dropped on her pillow. Hooting in appreciation, the owl nibbled on the treats while she opened the letter from Harry.

 _Dear Laurel,_

 _It's alright here. My Aunt and Uncle have left me alone for the most part, I may have told them that my godfather was an escaped convict that would come visit me if he heard that I was being mistreated. So I've mostly stayed in my room. I finished my homework already too, and reread some of the textbooks from the last couple of years since I was that bored. I can't believe how bad I was with studying in the last 3 years. I would have started on the fourth year textbooks but I haven't had the chance to go and buy them yet._

 _I asked my Uncle and he said it's yes, well at least he grunted out something that sounded like a yes. So I can get all my school supplies once we're there and maybe you could help me find dress robes. I have no idea on what to get. Ron's family will be picking us all up to for the world cup on Friday, they wanted to know what your floo system was called? I'll let Ron know and they'll pick us up around 11'oclock in the morning._

 _You will not believe how excited Ron is, he talks nonstop about the world cup. I think his brothers are getting annoyed with him. Percy isn't going, he's busy at work nor is Mrs. Weasley, so it'll be you, me, Ron and Hermione and then Fred and George and Ginny plus Mr. Weasley._

 _Padfoot is doing fine. I don't know where he is at the moment, hopefully somewhere sunny. I wish we could somehow go back in time and catch the rat. Life would be so different right now if everyone knew the truth. I can't stand knowing that he's probably hiding somewhere in his Animagus form, with no food or shelter. But he must have some way to get access to an owl to send me letters. I'll have to ask next time he writes._

 _Hoping that this week goes by fast,_

 _Harry_

 _P.S. Tell Hermione, I say hello. She'll be happy to know about my studies this summer._

Quickly writing a reply confirming the time that she would be getting to Harry's Aunty and Uncles house, she petted Hedwig on the head and asked, "Can you please take this back to Harry. I'll be picking him up next week and you guys get to stay with me for a week".

Hooting in either agreement to taking the letter or from excitement at staying with Laurel, the white owl nipped her on the hand gently and took flight out the window. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, she reread the letter. Harry was coming over for a week! They were going to have so much fun together.

Going through her clothes, Laurel pulled out her white skinny jeans, a long sleeved royal blue top, and light brown boots. Quickly shrugging on her silky purple robe, she walked out of the room and heading to the bathroom.

"Morning Laurel", Hermione's mother said as she walked past wit damp hair. "Glad to see you're up early, Hermione's got the day planned. She was actually going to wake you up in a minute".

"Good morning. I'm not surprised. It's Hermione". Laurel replied while covering a yawn.

"Breakfast should be ready once you're done. Take your time".

Nodding Laurel went into the bathroom and had a quick shower. No need to make them wait. Once she was dressed and her pajamas were folded again in her bag, she went downstairs where Hermione and her parents were already seated. Mr. Granger was reading the muggle paper while Hermione was reading the Daily prophet.

"Mr. Granger, Hermione", Laurel said while sitting down at the table.

"Morning Laurel." Mr. Granger replied looking up from the paper, "is that the time, I better be off. Teeth to fix you know". He kissed his wife on the cheek, winked at Hermione and Laurel who both started giggling at the table and hurried off.

"I swear, giving his the watch was the best present. He wouldn't know the time if it were staring at him in the face all day." Mrs. Granger smiled fondly at her husband's antics.

"Anything interesting in the paper?" Laurel asked Hermione.

"No, not really. Though they did put a mention in of Harry's birthday coming up in famous witches and wizards section. I don't know why everyone needs to know about it."

"The Daily Prophets noisy like that".

"And the Malfoys have put in a huge donation towards the world cup; it says here they'll be sitting with the Minister of Magic, Fudge. That's where we're sitting isn't it?"

"Yep, the top box. That means Draco is going to be there. Ugh, that slightly dampens my excitement." Just great, Malfoy. The person she least liked at Hogwarts. Ever since she had befriended Harry Malfoy had taken in as a personal insult that another pureblood like her would stoop so low as to hang after half-bloods, blood traitors and muggles. Because their families ran in the same circle, she had known him as a child, not well because they hadn't really gotten along, to begin with, but they would see each other have events and speak the required amount that was necessary towards another ancient family.

"Not worry, with his family there and the Minister there he'll have to be civil".

"Great, a civil Malfoy, that's even worse," she said, "So what are we doing today?"

"Well, I thought, since you've never really seen the muggle world, I thought I'd take you to the Zoo this morning, and then later we're all going out for dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant".

"Zoo?" Laurel asked, what was a zoo.

"It a place where animals are kept from different places around the world, and you can see them and even feed some of them. You'll love it. There are lions, and bears and eagles and all sorts of different animals you'd never get to see in real life", Hermione explained.

"That sounds so sad. Animals taken from their homes and put into a strange new environment, to be looked at by thousands of people every day." Laurel spoke passionately. She had a deep love for all creatures, magical or muggle. This zoo didn't sound very fun.

"It's not like that really; all the animals are cared for really well and have their own space to move around in," Hermione said.

"I guess then it sounds better", though she was still hesitant on the idea of a zoo.

"Ok then. If you still don't like it once we're there we can leave. But it's one of the places that I loved when I was younger. And I can't believe you've never been". The girls quickly ate their breakfast, before Mrs. Granger dropped them off at the zoo. The outside wasn't very interesting, high brick walls covered the entrance, with a huge sign saying Zoo on the front in big yellow letters. Kids were running around in excitement while parents were trying to control them.

Older teenagers like Laurel and Hermione were calmly standing in line, waiting to get their tickets. Laurel had her muggle credit card ready. It was a new system that the Goblins have set up for her. A muggle account was created in her name, which was connected to her vault, which would top up to five thousand pounds every 6 months. It was different then what she was used to carrying.

She usually just had her money purse in her bag that had a feather light charm on it and an anti-stealing charm on it. Once it was their turn to pay for their tickets, Laurel had Hermione go first to see how to pay, and once it was her turn, she used her card to pay for her ticket, albeit slower than everyone else had taken to pay.

"You're really getting the hang of muggle life", Hermione said while leading them over to a pathway. A sign said African safari this way.

"Seriously, I'm hopeless. It took me forever to pay for the ticket", she groaned in annoyance.

"Yes, but I've seen Ron struggling to even say telephone, it would take him hours just to figure out the concept of a credit card, then another hour just to figure out how to use it. Sometimes wizards are really thick when it ones to the muggle world. You really are picking it up fast."

The rest of the day was spent looking at animals that Laurel knew about but had never seen before. They ever went to an eagle show, and Laurel was picked from the crowd by the handler to come and pet the falcon that was being shown off. Hermione was also having a great day, she was more excited than Laurel was after seeing how well treated the animals were. Hermione spent ten minutes just admiring the otters in their watery home before Laurel dragged them off to see the deer.

By the time 1'oclock rolled around, both of them were pretty hungry so they stopped at the jungle Cafe that was located in the middle of the zoo.

Looking at the menu, Laurel asked, "What's a coffee?" A woman at the next table overheard her and looked up at Laurel as if she was stupid. Turning around Hermione followed her gaze.

"Never mind her. Some people are just so rude eavesdropping on conversations." Hermione said loudly, the woman blushed and lowered her eyes before turning back to her lunch.

"Coffee's make from beans, grounded and then mixed with milk and sugar. You should try one, almost everyone in the muggle world likes coffee".

"Ok. I wish they had butter beer. I could go for something sweet." Looking at the drinks menu, she chose a white chocolate mocha, it sounded nice and a toasted sandwich.

"What are you having Hermione?"

"I think I'll get a vanilla milkshake and the wrap."

"Great, my shout."She said while running off to the counter. Money really wasn't an issue for her, and Hermione's mom had already taken the time to drive them here and pick them up.

Because the lunch rush was over, there wasn't anyone in front of her and she placed her order quickly. Turning back to walk to their table, a boy around her own age stepped in front of her. She could see another two boys behind him outside the cafe watching.

He gave her a confident smile, strutted closer to her and said, "Hey babe, I seem to have lost my phone number. Can I have yours?" He said with a wink. Laurel looked at him in confusion before remembering that a number was what you put in a telephone to call people.

"Um sorry no." She replied while walking back to the table, mortified.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked, curious.

"Well, um, I think he was trying to get my number".

"Really." Hermione laughed. "You have to admit he must have been brave to come up to you." She said while waving her hand at Laurel.

"What you been by me? I'm not scary am I", Laurel exclaimed.

"No, just intimidating. You must notice how boys stop to stare at you all the time", Hermione explained, with an envious tone in her voice.

"I guess but looks aren't everything. Why would I want attention for something I can't control? Plus, your way smarter than me, I wish I was that brainy. And you're gorgeous as well, people just don't see it behind your hair".

"Really", Hermione said.

"Really", Laurel said while smiling. Hermione also needed to look past books and take a look in the mirror.

Once the food arrived Laurel tried her coffee. It was bitter, but after adding three sugar and getting pointed looks from Hermione, the coffee wasn't half bad. After they were finished they headed to the gift shop. Laurel bought a plush toy for herself, a cute leopard for herself and then a lion plush for Ron and Harry.

Mrs. Granger was right on time picking them up. And once Mr. Granger arrived home later that afternoon, they all headed out for a nice night out.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

After saying goodbye to Hermione and her family the next morning, Laurel found herself back at home. After sending a letter off to Ron with his plush in a bag, she unpacked her bags and left Harry's gift in her room for when he would arrive in a couple of days.

Now she had to plan on what to do for Harry's birthday. It would be on the second last day of his visit. Laurel was glad he wasn't spending it at Aunt and Uncles; there was no way they would celebrate. Over the years she had not seen one letter from his family. No presents either. Nothing. Harry was always so excited when he got presents for his birthday. She was going to make sure this was his best yet! And she had a perfect idea.


	3. Mysterious Eggs

**Authors Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Can't believe its chapter 3 already! It's going by so fast. So the next two chapters will be about Harry and Laurels time together. I really want you guys to get a feel for their relationship. They won't be getting together until later once they go to Hogwarts. If you guys have any ideas on how it should happen let me know. I'm still unfair about how it's going to play out.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Mysterious Eggs**

Over the end few days up to the day she was picking Harry up, Laurel finalized her plans for his birthday. She had planned a surprise birthday for Harry and had invited everyone from Gryffindor that was in their year, along with all the Weasleys, Remus, and Dumbledore. Dumbledore was a family friend of the family, having worked on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel, her late great grandfather. He still came over from time to time for tea. When her great-grandfather and mother had passed away, Dumbledore had been very remorseful on his part in their deaths. No one in the family, that was Laurel and her mother, had blamed him. They had lived a long life and had been thinking about passing on to the other side for a while now. After a while, there just wasn't anything to live for. They had loved each other, and Laurel and her mother dearly, but they weren't meant to be in this world any longer. It wasn't natural.

She had even come up with a way for Sirius to come. Her family had stores of potions down in the potions laboratory, and many of them were kept in protective vials and kept them from expiring. She had gone down looking for polyjuice potion and had lucky found it.

Laurel could have made it herself having all the ingredients and having already made it with Hermione in their second year, as well as the fact that she was the top student in potions three years in a row, but there wasn't enough time with it needing a month to make. She had given Sirius the personal floo network that was connected to her side of the house that would land him in her room, where she had bought some robes for him, along with some bath necessities, shoes, and hair from the potions laboratory that was labeled male, 30, nondescript. Which was better than being a convicted criminal for the night.

Hermione would be coming over earlier to help set up, along with the house elves. A band had been hired, a pretty good one that she had found in the Daily Prophet in the add section. They had been willing to play in such short notice because she had mentioned that it was Harry Potter's birthday and they had accepted, with cash up front of course.

All that was left was the food, which the elves wouldn't be making until the day before, the decorations which Hermione would be helping with, and getting Harry out of the house for a couple of hours beforehand. Maybe she could have Ron come over earlier as well and bring his broom and have him and Harry play quiddich beforehand. Yes, that sounded like a plan, Laurel thought as she wrote a letter quickly to Ron about her plan and sent it out with Apollo.

"Good boy, once your back I'll have some treats waiting for you in your dish", Laurel cooed to the owl as it hooted in acknowledgment.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Light streamed into the room as a cool morning breeze fluttered the silver curtains around the bay windows that framed along the middle of her room. Waking with a smile on her face, Laurel lifted the ocean blue covers and jumped off her bed queen size bed. Over at her vanity, she picked up a spare quilt and crossed off the date. It was the 24th of July, the day she was picking up Harry! They were going to have so much fun. She couldn't wait for him to open up the present she had gotten him, a wand holster that was invisible to everyone but the person using it, and it was pressed at the flick of the wrist incase said witch or wizard needed it in a second. She'd also gotten him a book on the history of quiddich and a wand polishing kit. A lot of wizards and witches didn't know that you had to clean your wand and need it in good condition to last longer.

It was a common fact for most pure blood families. A wand was something to respect and take care of, the essence of a wizards magic. Without a wand, we couldn't perform magic. Laurels wand had already been polished yesterday; she's loved it ever since she first laid eyes on her wand, made from ashwood with a hippocampus scale core. The wand had a silver design down its length that looked like vines, with the handle had from the silver mental as well.

Walking over to the bay windows, Laurel sat down at the attached cushion and brushed her hair while looking around her room. She designed it herself this summer. The queen bed sat in the middle with her blue quilt sheets that had a silver pattern running through it, the thick white canopy drapes were tied around the light wooden bed frame. The rest of the room was on a level with the bed raised, highlighting the center focus of it as the main element in the room. Her vanity matched the bed frame in a light wood, with a heavy mirror placed in the center. A book case ran the length of the other side of the room, where her school books were placed as well as other items, like her plush leopard from the zoo. Attached lights were on the walls either side of her bed, as well as another three placed around the room on the ceiling. The walls were painted a soft gray, and a plush rug took up space on the floor from the book case to the vanity.

Harry's present was wrapped and placed in a corner of the bookshelf out of sight, while letters were scattered along her wooden desk that stood in a corner of the room between her bed and the door to her room. All in all it was a great room Laurel thought. Maybe to pretentious, but it was her room and she liked this style. She shouldn't be ashamed of anyone seeing her as stuck up. She wouldn't help the fact that her family had money; she tried not to flaunt her wealth, especially not in front of Ron and Harry. But they were going to see where she lived soon, so they were going to have to deal with it.

She just knew Ron would have a problem with it. Hermione already knew how she lived; she'd looked up her family as soon as she found the library in the first year and had heard her name. Add to the drama of finding out about the philosopher's stone and turning liquid into gold and eyes had turned. It is what it is.

Shaking her head as these thoughts, Laurel went downstairs to have breakfast. As she walked down the grand staircase, she observed the polished white marble of each step that she took. The stairs flared out at the bottom, and she turned right, past the guest lounge and into the kitchen. One house elf was up and cooking, something that smelled amazing, while her mother read the paper at the kitchen table.

"Good morning." Laurel said as she said down opposite from her.

Looking up from the paper, her mother replied "Morning love. Have you got everything ready for Harry?"

"Yes, the elves have cleaned out the spare room in my wing, and they'd started planning the food they'll need for the party. I'm so excited mum! Harry's first surprise party" At that last statement also brought her frown back; it would also be his first birthday party.

"What's the matter dear?"Her mother asked seeing her daughter frowning.

"Well, I just want this party to be amazing. Harry's family has never showed him any love or respect. They've never had a party for him let along given him a present".

"Are you sure? Maybe they're just not that well off." Looking up in concern for the boy she vaguely remembered from the platform.

"I'm sure. Harry says his cousin is spoilt rotten. Harry doesn't even have any proper clothes. He gets is cousins old clothes that are five sizes too big for him."

"Mmm, I know. I'm off work the day after tomorrow. Why don't we all go shopping in muggle London? I'm sure Harry can show us around and it'll be nice to have someone to educate us on muggle shopping. You'll need some more clothes to for the world cup. It'll be perfect."

"Actually that's a great idea. I'll make sure Harry's alright with it. And that he has enough money converted into muggle money". Pleased at this new plan of action, Laurel sipped the glass of milk that Hallie, the house elf had given her. She hadn't spent a lot of time with her mother lately, it was hard sometimes with her having to work so much. One disadvantage of being from an Ancient and Noble House was the responsibilities that came with it. There were meetings with the Wizengamot, the International Confederation of Wizards, as being members of the social elite. Usually her mother day a couple of days off a week, but there was something going on this year, something big that was taking up her mother's time. She had asked about it, but her mother had only told her to hush and that she'd find out soon enough.

Thinking that now was another good time as any to ask her mother about it, Laurel asked smoothly, "So, what's been happening at the ministry lately."

Giving her noisy daughter a pointed look at her attempt at gaining some information, she replied, "All in good time missy. I can't away the surprise. But you're going to have such a fun year".

"Mummm". Laurel protested in her most childish whinging voice.

"Laurel".

Huffing Laurel said, "Fine, I won't ask again. Anyway I, was wondering. Do you think you'll be free on Harry's birthday to help decorate? Hermione and I could really use some magically help".

"I should be about to help. I can't imagine what you'll and Hermione would achieve by yourselves. But if I'm not the elves can always have it done in a second flat".

"Yes but well, the elves will take over. They won't leave anything for us to do". She whispered so that Hallie wouldn't hear them. Her mother laughed at her.

After breakfast, Laurels mother had to go to work, with the promise that they would eat together tonight once she was home.

Before she left thought she asked, "By the way, there won't be any issues with a boy staying over now will there. I don't have to give you the talk about the wand and the caldrons, now do I?" With a wink she was out the door.

"Mum!" Laurel cried out in embarrassed, while her mother's laugher could be heard before the roar of the fireplace replaced it.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

It was almost time to leave to get Harry. Laurel would be flooing to the leaky caldron before getting a taxi to Surrey. Her hair was done in a mermaid braid, while she had chosen a pink flowing skirt with white lines at the bottom making it looked like it was ruffled, that went down almost to her knees and a white singlet with a denim jacket and light coloured shoes. Her wand was in her holster, invisible to everyone but her, while her family necklace was on her like usual. It was a family crest, hung on a thin delicate silver chain, with a rose curled around a wand; on the back was the family motto, Tenax et fidelis, meaning Persevering and faithful. This was a special necklace passed down to every daughter in the family. It had some powerful charms on it that prevented certain hexes and spells from touching her, as well as the fact that it was a portkey. If you held it in your hand and spoke to family motto, you would be taken to the ancestral house.

This was how she would be getting back with Harry. There didn't seem like any point in getting a taxi back to the leaky caldron, Laurel didn't care for sitting in a taxi for another hour. As long as Harry was touching her, he'd be taken along as well.

Looking at the time, she grabbed her purse, and went down to the fireplace before flooing to the leaky caldron. Once there, she asked Tom, the owner, if he could call her a taxi using the payphone that was stationed along the wall next to the front door. Thanking him, she waited outside for about ten minutes before a beaten down looking car pulled up next to her.

"You Ms Flamel?" An older aged man asked from the driver's seat.

"Yes", she replied while getting into the back of the taxi.

"Where to", the man grumbled out before pressing something on his dash.

"Surrey, Little Whinging, 4 Privet drive".

"It'll cost you to go that far. You sure you got the money."

"Yes its fine." With a nod, the car pulled out of the curl and she was on her first taxi ride. It wasn't too bad. It smelled a little musty in the car, and it looked like it could have been cleaned more regularly, but it wasn't as bad as the night bus.

The hour it to get to Harry's went by fast, Laurel kept looking out the window at all the buildings and houses they past. With each minute closer she grew more and more excited. When the taxi finally pulled up, she handed the man more then was necessary.

Shocked at the amount she had given him the man exclaimed, "You can't give me this much miss. It's almost double of what it cost to take you here." He tried giving her the rest back.

"No keep it, trust me, I don't need it and you've helped me out more then you know." Giving him a warm smile, the man smiled back.

"Well here. Take my business card. Next time you need a ride I'll pick you up".

"Thank you", Laurel said grabbing the card, "...Mr. Wilson. Have a lovely day." Waving, she walked over to the house and looked at the place where Harry had grown up all these years. The house, if she had to describe it in one word, was ordinary. Muggles sure did like to build the same type of houses. It looked like someone had used a duplication spell on the neighborhood.

Walking up to the neatly trimmed grass, she saw that someone had taken a lot of care with the flower garden. No weeds were in sight, and all the flowers looked lovely and thriving. Coming up to the door, she rung the doorbell and waited. After a second she heard a man's voice yelling something about rudeness.

The door opened and she was met by Harry's uncle, his face was slightly flushed as if he had just been running, and sweat was glistering on his forehead.

"Hello, I'm Laurel, I'm here to pick up Harry".

The man grunted at her before shouting "Boy! One of your friends is here from that school of yours."

"Lovely to meet you". She muttered under her breath in sarcasm, before taking a step inside, since no one had invited her in. The inside of the house was clean Laurel noticed. Too clean for a house that two boys lived in. Before she had to start an awkward conversation with Harry's relatives, said person came down the stairs with his trunk and owl cage in tow.

Not wanting to hug her friend in front of his uncle, she beamed at him instead.

"Harry! It's so good to see you".

"You to Laurel" Harry replied awkwardly as his uncles face started to get ready. "Well I'm ready to go. See you uncle next year". His uncle merely glared at them both before heading into the couch room, watching them out of the corner of his eyes.

"So, how are we getting back to yours," Harry asked starting towards the door.

"No Harry, come here. Grab my hand," Laurel giggled. Harry looked at her in confusion before taking her extended hand.

"Now this may feel weird but don't worry. We're taking a portkey. It'll take us straight to my house".

"Ok...what's a portkey?"

"You'll see. It's easier to demonstrate".

Grabbing her pendent in her hand, and making sure that Harry had everything securely in his other hand, she softly spoke, "Tenax et fidelis". In a flash of white light and Harry's uncle shouting profanities, they were pulled from Privet drive and handed softly at the Flamel mansion next to the grand staircase.

"I can see why you couldn't describe it. It felt like I was getting spun around and around."

"You get used to it". Realizing that Harry was indeed here, Laurel shouted "Harry, your actually here," before jumping at him. Harry wrapped his arms around her side stepping to keep from falling over. It felt nice having Harry's arms around her. Staying there for a couple of seconds, Harry released her before smiling, "I can't believe it either. I've great getting away from the Dursleys for an extra week before Ron's".

"So how have you been? I've missed you so much. It's been kind of lonely around here since I got back from Hermione's".

"Same old stuff really for me. The Dursleys have mostly left me alone. But still lonely, there isn't anyone to talk to around there", Harry said with a frown. Studying her friend for the first time, she noticed he had grown a lot during the summer. And he was tanner then he had been the last time she had seen him. His hair was pretty shaggy too. He was going to need a haircut today Laurel decided. His glasses as well looked pretty beaten up. They were the same ones that he had worn in their first year. Had he ever gone to an Optometrist in the last three years? She was going to have to bring that up when they were in Diagon ally later. Maybe she could get an appointment for him today if he agreed to see someone.

Looking around for the first time, Harry said "Wow you have a nice place".

"Oh yes, thanks", Laurel replied, broken out of her train of thought, "You haven't seen the half of it yet. Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping and then I can show you around before we head off to Diagon ally".

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Once she had shown Harry to his room that was across from hers, they decided to go for a walk around the property.

It was a nice morning; the sun was bright as they walked along a small creek that led to the waterfall up ahead. As they walked they fell into a comfortable discussion about random topics.

"Oh I almost forgot to ask you. Mum wants to know if you want to go shopping tomorrow with us. I know you need some help buying clothes and I need some more muggle clothes, and Mum and I aren't very good as navigating the muggle shopping area's".

"Really, you'd help me get some new clothes. I've wanted to burn all of these old clothes for years. But sure, it'll be great." Harry said in excitement at finally having some muggle clothing of his own. There just had never been a time to go and buy new clothes, he mostly only worn Dudley's cast offs in the muggle world, and not many people really saw him there anyway. But with the world cup coming up he'd have to wear his clothes out around his friends and other students from school would be there, and Laurel would be there. That sudden though made him freeze. That was weird. Focusing of what the said person was saying he nodded along.

"Great, I'll let mum know tonight at dinner". As they were walking Laurel noticed they were coming up closer to the waterfall. A spark of playfulness shone in her eyes as she looked at Harry.

"Harry, race you to the waterfall", she said before he had the chance to process what she had just said. Taking off, she ran through the last of the foliage, laughing as she went. She heard Harry following her, catching up, laughing as well. Just as he was about to pass her, something caught her foot, off balancing her and causing her to crash through a brush. Crying out, she landed painfully on her side.

"Laurel!" Harry shouted as he heard her cry. Laurel groaned before rolling over. Flicking the hair out of her face she opened her eyes. A golden glitter shimmered in her peripheral vision. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees she ignored Harry's call as she looked to where the colour was coming off.

Walking towards it, she would see if it was something on the ground. Kneeing down, she brushed some leaves off the ground and found something egg shaped and golden. Brushing it off with her fingers, she looked at it closer. It was an egg, a golden coloured egg the size of knut.

"Laurel, are you alright." Harry rushed over to her and looked her over.

"I'm fine Harry. No big deal. Look at want I found", she said, showing him the egg.

"It looks like a golden egg." Harry said, studying the egg.

"I know, I wonder what's inside it" she wondered as she caressed the small object.

"Why don't we look for a nest? It must have fallen from a bird's nest I think".

"You're right let's look around." The two spent the next 20 minutes looking for a nest with no such luck. It didn't seem to have fallen out of a nest.

"I give up". Harry said after they sat down later at the edge of the creek. The waterfall roared next to them, a pleasant sound to their ears, calming them.

"Maybe I could just try and keep the egg warm? It might hatch. If it's magical it might not even need warmth to survive incubation, only time. We could even go to the magical menagerie and ask someone there if they know what type of egg it is". Laurel said, she had tucked the egg safely in her jacket pocket early and patted it, making sure the egg was still secure.

"Good idea, if it's local to this region they should know what it is," Harry stated, pulling himself up from the ground and offering his hand, taking it, she was pulled up effortlessly and flew forward before righting herself.

"Let's go then".

The walk back was silent; both excited to be at Diagon ally. Laurel changed quickly out of her dirty outfit and into some gray jeans and a blue top before meeting Harry down stairs.

"You've used the floo before right?" Laurel asked.

"Um yeah, kind of. When I was at Ron's last summer, but I ended up in knockturn ally", Harry replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I remember that I can't believe you messed that up. Maybe I should go first." Grabbing some powder, Laurel said loudly, "Diagon Ally", before green flames enveloped her, and she was spinning until her feet hit solid ground again. She stepped out of the fire place and waited for Harry. A couple of seconds later he stumbled out and fell to the ground.

Laughing, Laurel helped him up.

Glaring at her as he brushed the soot off his shirt, he said "For some of us it's a challenge Flamel."

Giggling, Laurel replied, "Well I just can't believe how good you are on a broom, but you can't stay upright while using the floo."

Their first stop was the magical menagerie. A bell chimed as they walked in through the door, and animals went crazy at the noise. There was hissing, and barking and other noises that Laurel couldn't quite make out.

"Good morning, can I help you with anything today". An older looking witch asked behind the counter.

"Yes actually. I found this egg today. And I wanted to know what it is or how to care for it. We couldn't find a nest and I can't leave it to die," Laurel said as she took the egg carefully out of her pocket.

"Oh!" The witch exclaimed as she looked at the egg with surprise. "Oh my. I've never actually see the egg before, only in books. But it's just like it says in the text, golden coloured, small, and unbreakable. You found it on the ground you said. You'd be surprised since it isn't broken or damaged in the slightest". The woman kept looking at the egg longingly.

"So you know what it is then", Harry asked, curious.

"Oh yes. I sure do. You're very lucky with this find. I can't believe it myself. It's a snidget egg".

"A snidget egg! Wow. There really endangered aren't they", Laurel said softly as she gazed at the egg with new appreciation.

"What's a snidget", Harry asked, confused by the whole thing.

"You don't know Harry? I thought you with you'll your Quiddich knowledge would have read it somewhere".

"What's it got to do with Quiddich?"Harry asked, still confused.

"Snidget's are endangered because of Quiddich lad. They used to be used as the golden snitch before they became endangered from being killed by the players. The snitch was then invented in the likeness of the snidget with the same speed to keep on the tradition", spoke the shop attendant.

Placing the egg back to Laurel carefully, then though it was unbreakable, Laurel took the egg.

"Now let me do some spells to see if it's still alive. Then if it is, you'll need some equipment to help it incubate and then once it's hatched", the witch said, while taking her wand out as she pointed it at the egg in Laurels hand. After a couple of seconds, a blue light shone on top of the egg.

"It's still alive. Now you won't need much for the egg. Its unbreakable, but you'll still need to take care of it. Dropping it in cold water or snow will kill it. Just keep it on you at all times until it hatches. It can sense the presence of other living beings, and it will only hatch when it feels safe enough".

"Ok, that sounds easy enough," Laurel said while Harry nodded along.

"Once it's hatched, that's the hard part. It'll need round the clock care before it's fully grown at 2 months old. They grow rapidly. It'll be featherless at first, so you'll need to keep it in a warm pocket wrapped in a cloth until it can fly at the 2 month mark. Let me see what I have". The witch said, turning around and heading out to the back of the store.

Smiling at Harry, Laurel handed Harry the egg. Looking at it in wonder now, she would see Harry studying it, looking for similarities to the snitch.

The witch came back and put several things on the counter.

"Ok, this soft cloth, you can wrap the chick up in. And this is a nest replica, it can sleep in it at night, it's got warming charms on it perfect for the chick. And this is a book on the species. You might just want to have a read of it. It has all the details on feeding it and bathing it. But what you just need to know is feed it every three hours, nectar and honey work, as well as berries mashed up into a paste".

"Thank you so much. We couldn't have known any of this without you," Laurel said as she paid for the items.

No worries girl. I do have one small request though. Once it hatches, could you bring it around so that I could get a photo of it. I'd like to put it up on the wall for people to see, no one's seen them in so long, a lot of wizards have forgotten what they look like".

That seems like a reasonable request, agreeing, Laurel put all the items in her bag. Harry handed her the egg back, which she put in her pocket. Thanking the witch again, they left.

"Ok Harry. First mission completed. It's time for item 2 of today's agenda, dress robes", Laurel said in a mocking voice.

"Are we in a spy movie Laurel," Harry laughed, clearly amused by her antics.

"Ha-ha, Harry Potter. Just wait until we get to Madam Malkins dress robes for all occasions. Then the torture shall begin". Laurel replied with a wink.

It didn't take too long for Harry to find dress robes that he likes, bottle green, with silver lining stitched down the sides. Laurel thought it looked very nice against his eyes.

After that, Laurel brought up the subject with Harry about the optometrist.

"Harry, I was wondering. Have you been to an optometrist in the last couple of years?" She asked slowly.

Looking at Laurel, Harry thought for a moment, "No, I went once to in school when I would about 7 because it was mandatory, and my Aunt got me these from the used box. I didn't think I'd need to get rechecked".

Starring at her friend, Laurel sometimes wondered if all boys were that thick, she couldn't blame Harry though, it wasn't his fault.

"Did you want to get them checked while we're here? You're supposed to get them checked once a year Harry. I'm surprised you haven't noticed a change in your vision".

"Well I guess I have noticed that it's a little blurrier then it used to be but I didn't really think about it. But ok, new glasses actually sounds like a good idea. Image how much better I'll be at quiddich!"

Rolling her eyes, they walked over to the only optometrist in the ally, magical eyes, and entered. As they entered a man approached them, he was old, in his early 50's, with silver glasses and dressed in neat black robes. The store was small, with different types of glasses lined against the walls. There was ever a poster on the wall of a dragon in glasses, with the words I can see you clearly now, watch out, as the beast roared and let out a breath of fire.

"Good morning, lady and gentleman, how can I be of service today?"

"Egh, I wanted to get a check up if possible", Harry replied, unsure about how these things went.

"Certainly, good man. Right this way. Miss, you'll have to wait right out here".

"See you Harry".

It didn't take long for Harry to come back out, maybe twenty minutes. When we came back out Laurels mouth fell open. Harry looked so different. She expected him to come out with a new pair of glasses, maybe a different style or colour, but that's it. Instead, Harry walked out with nothing. No glasses. He looked hot, Laurel thought to herself. Not like a boy anymore, a guy man. Without the glasses, his eyes were a startling emerald green.

"Like what you see", Harry said flirtatiously with a wink.

"You look so different. Your eyes are so green. I never really noticed just how green they were with the glasses blocking them", Laurel said truthfully, omitting that she thought he looked hot.

"Mr. Fisher convinced me that it would be better to get them magically fixed instead of going for another pair of glasses, what with quiddich and all the adventures we get into. So I figured I'd give it a try".

"You look great Harry. It really makes a difference." She said, blushing

"Told you you'd be a hit with the lady", Mr. Fisher teased. Blushing as well from the comment, Harry quickly paid for the appointment and they left, Laurel waving goodbye at the man.

"It was expensive, but worth it".

"It was Harry. I can't wait to see the looks on Ron and Hermione's faces when they see you.

"Yeah they'll be surprised when I go there next week at the Burrow". Laurel smiled to herself, hehe; Harry still had no idea about the party.

After they went and got all of Harry's textbooks and supplies for school, Laurel already had hers so it didn't take too long. Once done, they went back to the leaky caldron for a late lunch, and then went home. They were both pretty tired after their trip, and spent the rest of the day on the couch talking, about Hogwarts, what Harry wanted to do for his birthday, and mostly about the world cup and was approaching fast.

All in all it was a good day. And both of them fell asleep instantly after their heads hit their pillows.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

This Chapter was pretty long. I tried to make up for the chapter 2 being so short. I wanted to have separate chapters for Hermione and Harry's time with Laurel. Hope you enjoyed this one. I love the idea of having a snidget as a pet/friend. I wanted Laurel to have an animal companion but a cat and an owl just didn't feel right. Like always, please review!

Briane94


	4. The Birthday Party

**Authors Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Sorry for the late post, I had so much stuff going on for the last two weeks, what with being sick, working, doing yoga and finding time to hang out with friends.

It's party time! This one will be a long chapter as well. I'm hoping after this one I'll be quicker with chapters since it's mostly canon from now on. I'm a little unsure about how to start off Laurel and Harry's relationship, so if you guys have any idea's I'm all ears.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter; it's the last one that doesn't focus on the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire books, so starting next chapter will be about the Quidditch world cup.

Like always, please review guys.

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Birthday Party**

It was bright and early the next morning that Laurel could be found starting her day. She'd woken up abruptly after rolling over and dreaming of crushing the egg that was currently safe in the little nest that she had bought the day earlier. Relaxing as she realized she hadn't killed the poor unhatched chick, Laurel breathed out a sigh of relieve but couldn't get back to sleep. Instead, she had chosen to get ready early for the day, picking out her outfit to go out shopping in muggle London. In truth, she had taken quite a liking to muggle clothes and had started wearing them more and more. Robes could be horribly restricting at times, whereas jeans and tops weren't.

From the few clothing items she owned, which she was going to rectify today, she chose her denim jeans, a light blue sweater, and her flats. Putting the egg in her pocket, she quickly brushed her hair and put it up in a high ponytail and with one last look in the mirror, she was ready.

As she was walking past Harry's room, she heard soft groaning. Stopping, she listened for a second. Debating on whether or not she should go in. Deciding that maybe something was wrong, she knocked on the door just in case he was awake and called out.

"Harry?" She said loudly. Getting no reply, she opened the door. Stepping in, she found Harry tossing and turning on the bed.

"Harry wake up," Laurel spoke softly, not wanting to startle him. "Harry", she touched his arm lightly. His skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and the bed sheets had been kicked around, half on the bed and half spilling over onto the floor.

"Come on Harry, it's just a dream", She spoke a little louder, shaking his arm gently. At the unexpected movement, Harry jolted awake, gasping as he sat up.

"Laurel?" Harry said as he went to grab his glasses from the bedside table, only then realizing that he didn't need them anymore, "Wha-at are you doing here", he spoke in a half asleep voice, still confused as to why he was suddenly awake and had a girl in his room.

"You were having a nightmare, I heard you from the hallway", she replied softly, afraid that he would be mad at her for coming into his room.

"Oh, it's fine. I've been getting them a lot lately. I can't really remember much about it", Harry said with a faraway look in his eyes as if he was trying to remember what it had been about.

"I just remember something about a house, and Voldemort was there, planning something. I think Wormtail was there too. And Voldemort, he looks...it's hard to explain, deformed almost", shaking his head, Harry ran his hand through his always messy hair.

Concerned for her friend, Laurel sat on the bed next to him. "Do you think it was real? You do have a strange connect to him; maybe this is part of it".

"I don't know. Maybe, it felt feel to me, not like a normal dream. Maybe I should write to Dumbledore? Just in case."

"Good idea. He'll want to know Harry. I'm sure of it. He might even be able to give you some advice or information regarding your scar." Looking less shaken up, Harry nodded.

"Thanks, Laurel, for you know..." Harry said sheepishly.

"It's alright. I'll um, see you downstairs whenever you're ready," Laurel said as she left his room.

Going down into the kitchen, Laurel found her mother there already, dressed and drinking tea.

"Morning dear", her mother said, smiling up at her from the kitchen table.

"Morning mom," Laurel replied sitting down. Hallie came over with her breakfast, eggs, bacon and toast before turning back to her pot.

"So once Harry's ready we'll be off I suppose. I'm quite excited. I haven't been to muggle London in a while."

"Yes, I learned a lot from Hermione last week. I can't wait to see more of the city".

Halfway through their discussion on muggle culture, Harry came down, dressed in a baggy dark blue shirt and jeans.

"Morning Mrs. Flamel, Laurel," Harry said as he sat down. Hallie came straight over with a huge serving of breakfast.

"Mr. Pottie is needing his breakfast. He's much too skinny for Hallie's liking, yes, eat eat young sir." Hallie spoke in her squeaky voice. Harry profoundly thanked her, telling her that she could get back to her work, he didn't need anything else while the elf left sadly.

"Sorry Harry. She gets like that sometimes. You better make sure you eat it all or she'll know and start leaving food around the house all day for you".

"Seriously," Harry asked, as he started eating.

"Yep, it was quite annoying after a while. She kept trying to get me to eat more meat a couple of years ago, and it got so bad that she'd have it following me around. We had words after that and she wasn't allowed to make food follow me around anymore. I'm not sure if she'd do it to you thought", Laurel said seriously.

Laughing at her seriousness, Harry threw his head back, his toast dropped unceremoniously onto his plate.

"I wasn't joking Harry," Laurel said, confused at Harry's outburst.

"I know, I'm sorry, I can just picture you running away from a roast chicken is all," Harry said as his laughter died down.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Once they'd all eaten, they were off to London. They took the floo to the leaky cauldron, but instead of going off into diagon ally, went out into the streets of London. Harry led the way to the shopping area. Her mother kept fidgeting with her black jacket, not used to wearing that type of clothing.

"So we'll head into the shopping center and they'll have everything we need". Harry said as he walks with his friend, Laurel's mother trailing behind them.

"Let's get your clothes first Harry. Then while mom and I are going to shopping for me, and you can get a haircut, I think you said something about needing one," Laurel said happily.

"That's right, I did need a haircut. No one will be able to recognize me this year," Harry said hopefully, "ok I should be able to get everything from here."

Looking at the place that Harry had stopped, the first thing that Laurel was the store was huge, two levels, with elevators, no that wasn't the right word, escalators, running people up and down the levels. It was easy to see that the first level wasn't what Harry was looking for; it was all perfume and makeup and handbags. The clothes looked like they would be upstairs. The group walked over to the escalators at a sign and found that man's and boy's clothing was on the second floor, along with female clothing.

They spent about two hours in the store, with a sales assistant helping Harry to select trendy clothes that boys his age were wearing. Money didn't seem to be an issue for Harry, as he bought almost enough clothes to last the next two years. By the time they were finished, Harry had two new sets of pyjamas, one dark green and one a deep blue, six casual shirts, two jumpers, three pairs of jeans, two dress shirts, one pair of dress shoes and black pants, a pair of exercise shoes, and two pairs of casual shoes, along with socks and underwear and swimming trunks. Laurel and her mom had left that for Harry and the shopping assistant to pick out.

It was a start; he'd probably need more things later on. But it was the most Harry had, and Laurel was happy to know he finally had clothes that fit in properly and were new for a change. They would have to throw away all his old stuff later.

Laurel's favorite item was a dark leather jacket that she had insisted her buy, along with the assistant. It was casual, and loose, making his dark hair and eyes stand out even more. Secretly, she was going to make sure he wore into his party.

"Excuse me," Harry asked the young man that had helped them, "Is it alright if I change into one of the outfits now, I don't really want to continue walking around in this," Harry said as he looked down at his clothes.

"That's fine; we get people all the time wanted to wear their new clothes straight away. May I ask why you were wearing clothes that didn't fit"? The man asked kindly, confused as to why Harry could afford clothes but was wearing castoffs.

"Oh um, Harry had just come back from a trip to Australia, and they lost his luggage, and his cousin was nice enough to lend him some clothes, but he isn't exactly the same size as Harry. And he can't borrow anything of mine", Laurel said with a giggle.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'll even throw in this shirt, that way you have one for each day of the week," the man said with a wink as Harry walked into the changing room.

"Thank you. You're too kind," Laurels mother said with a smile.

After that, Harry said goodbye to go and find a hairdresser while Laurel and her mom walked around the woman's section, promising Harry they'd stay in the shop until he was finished.

An hour later, Harry found the two females still in the clothing section, paying for their items.

"Ohh Harry, I like the haircut," Laurel said as she saw him. Harry's hair had been cut shorter, but not too short, it was still messy, but in a tamer way that looked like it was meant to be messy. Laurel liked it. It was still the same wild hair that would never flatten out.

"Thanks, I kinda just let the barber do whatever he wanted. As long as it was shorter," Harry said as he ran a hand through his hair. With the new hair and no glasses, Harry looked different in a good way, less noticeable as the boy-who-lived, and more like a normal 14-year-old boy that had a normal life.

"They did a good job," Laurels mother said, as they finished paying.

Laurel was happy with her purchases. She's gotten a couple of nice jackets to wear in the colder months, and some new jeans and tops. Her mother had also gotten some new clothes to wear out in the muggle world. Classic items that made her look like a business woman, it suited her.

They decided to have lunch in the shopping area, finding a small restaurant that wasn't busy, that overlooked the street. They were all pretty hungry after three hours of shopping and walking around.

Looking at the menu, Laurel decided on the chicken creaser salad, while her mother ordered the salmon, and Harry ordered the turkey and bacon club sandwich. Once they had eaten their fill, her mother paid for the food to the protest of Harry.

Laurel and Harry decided to spend the rest of the day roaming around the forest around their property and to go for a swim.

Because it was too far to walk in their bathers, Laurel and Harry both carried backpacks with them that included a light snack (for a house elf) their bathers and a towel, and water bottles. The bags were feather light, courtesy of her mother.

"So Harry," Laurel said as they walked through the forest, "do you think they'll have a defense against the dark arts teacher this year. I wonder who it'll be. I do hope it's someone that can actually teach, I swear, I'm surprised that the school hasn't had very many fails when it comes to that subject."

"I don't know. I wish Remus was coming back. Stupid prejudice wizards." Harry said. In truth, Laurel had thought it was really unfair that Remus had been fired. Sure he had forgotten to take his potion that night accidentally, but no one had been hurt. Poor Remus, he'd been the best teacher they'd ever had.

"I know. It's unfair", Laurel replied.

Changing the subject, Harry said "I wonder how Ron and Hermione are. I haven't heard from them lately".

"Oh, I'm sure their just busy, what with it being the last week for Hermione to spend with her parents. They probably just know that they'll see you in a week so there's no point in writing. And Ron's probably just too lazy to write. You know I only got two letters from him this summer," Laurel said, lying a little about the letters to Ron. She technically had only gotten one from him about the summer, the rest were planning for the party.

As they finally got to the waterfall, they put their bags down and decided to sunbathe for a while. There were at the top of the small cliff, the ground was rocky and smooth as they laid their towels out. Laurel wanted to work on her tan, and Harry just liked lying in the sun listening to the waterfall. It was really peaceful. Taking off her top and short, Laurel was left in her dark blue bikini top and bottoms, while Harry took off his shirt, leaving his chest exposed.

"I can't wait for school to start. You know, something's up with my mom. She keeps having these big meetings at the ministry. It's weird. I've never seen her so busy. I did hear her mention Hogwarts over a firecall before she noticed I was listening. I wonder what it's all about".

"I hope Dumbledore isn't in trouble again. Or maybe it's about finding the new defense teacher. That's gotta be big over there".

"Maybe," Laurel said, that didn't seem right.

Laurel was almost drifting asleep, she was so relaxed. After a while, she sat up and stretched, noticing that was starting to go red. Looking over at Harry, she grins as she noticed that he was even redder, and appeared to be asleep, as indicated by the light breathing that she could hear.

Deciding that she needed to wake him up, she grabbed one of the water bottles and unscrewed the lid. She quietly tiptoed over to him, and with both hands, dumped the water onto his face.

Spluttering, Harry woke up, wiping the water out of his eyes. Laughing, Laurel threw the bottle away.

With an evil grin on his face, Harry started for her as he picked up his own bottle of water, "Laurel," he sang in a mocking voice.

"Oh no, you don't Harry Potter. You'll have to catch me first". With years of practice, Laurel ran towards the cliff, and with a graceful leap, dived off the edge, flying through the air as she made a perfect dive into the warm water.

"Come and get me Harry", she shouted, laughing as she treaded water. She swam over to the left, out of Harry's way, as she watched him take a running start. Unlike her, he decided to try a flip, and with success, did one rotation before coming into a dive a couple of meters away from her.

Swimming up to her Harry said "Here's your payback," before dunking her head underwater. In retaliation, she swam deeper under the water, grabbing his legs as pulling him under as well before coming back up for air.

Both of them gasping and laughing, they splashed at each other, before swimming under the cliff into the shadows of the river. They floated around for a bit, Laurel loved swimming, anything really that had to do with nature or animals. Harry, never having used his muscles in this new type of environment, grew tired quickly, and they got out soon after and walked back up to where their things were too dry off.

Once they started to look like they were tomato's, they decided it was time to leave, and find some healing cream for their burns. As they walked they pushed each other around, trying to see who would fall over the most. At one point, Harry had pushed her, trying to make her fall into a bush, on instinct, she grabbed his arm as she fell, and they were both taken down.

Harry fell on top of her with a gasp. Realizing their awkward positions, Harry got off her quickly.

"I'm sorry Laurel, you pulled me down", Harry said, trying to explain his position.

"its fine Harry," Laurel said with a chuckle, "I didn't mind," she said, winking. Harry became even redder after that, before realizing she was just having him and things went back to normal.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The days that followed were great. Laurel and Harry spent a lot of time swimming, both having developed tans from all the fun outside. Harry was getting more endurance to when it came to swimming, and soon they were racing from each end of the river, Laurel always won, unless Harry cheated.

Nights were spent reading; sometimes the textbooks for the fourth year, Harry wanted to get ahead of potions so that Professor Snape had fewer reasons to take points off of him if he had any questions Laurel was happy to help him understand. While Laurel was focusing on transfiguration, her other favorite subject. She'd been studying animagus's and how to become one; it did seem like a useful ability. But it also took years of practice and hard work, but the rewards could be amazing. She was thinking of asking Professor McGonagall about it, to see if it were possible.

On the day of Harry's birthday, Laurel woke up with excitement, in just a couple of hours, they would have to start getting ready for the party! Her mother had to work that morning, but promised that she'd be home in time to help decorate for the party. It would be outside behind the house, that way Harry wouldn't accidentally see what they were up on his way in and out of the house.

Both Ron and Hermione were coming over to celebrate Harry's birthday with lunch as Laurels, while Ron would casually ask Harry to go to diagon ally with him after to see the new issues of brooms that had just come in, leaving Laurel and Hermione with the house to themselves. The plan wasn't perfectly sorted out, but Harry was happy enough to believe that that was all that they were doing for his birthday. She had gotten the house elves to make two cakes, which they had happily agreed to. A small one for their lunch, and a bigger one for the party and all their guests.

Laurel had a long bath to start with. She loved her bathroom. It was all marble, with a build in bathtub that could fit at least three adults, with a shower stall as well and a mirror up on the wall as well as a sink. It had been the same since the house had first been built, with a few upgrades on the mirror; Laurel had changed it to a long, light wooden frames mirror that ran along the wall above the sink.

After washing and drying her hair, Laurel came out in a casual top and dark jeans that she'd bought earlier in the week. By the time she came downstairs with Harry's present, he was already sitting at the kitchen table reading the daily prophet.

"Happy Birthday Harry!" she said loudly as she shoved her present at him. It was grabbed badly, wrapping was not one of her finer skills, with a card taped on top.

"Thank you, Laurel," Harry said, grinning. He opened the card first to be polite. Before gently unwrapping the paper.

Rolling her eyes, Laurel said, "Harry you don't have to keep the paper, I didn't do I good job of it anyway."

"I know, but I want to," Harry said with feeling. Smiling, Laurel beamed at him in encouragement to open up the present already.

"I love it Laurel, thanks," He said as he finally opened the presents to reveal the wand holster, wand kit, and Quidditch book. He put on the holster and put his wand on, practicing the movement to release it.

"Wicked!" he said as he caught his wand in his hand. They spent the next hour slowly eating breakfast and talking, and the next hour was spent with Harry reading his new book and polishing his wand with care for the first time in three years.

"I can't believe I never thought to clean my wand before this," Harry said as he polished his want for the second time.

"Most people don't, which is why I thought it would be a good item to get you. A well-kept wand is mightier than a dirty one".

"What, where did you get that from", Harry asked in amusement.

"It says it on the back". Laurel said, shrugging.

Later one, they could be found playing a game of chest in the living room, waiting for Ron and Hermione to arrive.

Ron was the first to arrive, 20 minutes early as well. The fireplace roared to live in green flames as Ron stepped out, having more practice at using the floo then Harry.

"Hiya Harry, Laurel", Ron said as he dusted himself off, "Happy birthday Harry," Ron said as he handed Harry a present wrapped in red paper.

"Hey, Harry. What happened to your glasses?" Ron said as he looked at Harry in confusion.

"I not my eyes fixed. Don't need glasses anymore."

"Bloody brilliant. How come you didn't get them fixed years ago?"

"I didn't know you could, I'm still new to what magic can and can't do. Laurel actually gave me the idea to get my eyes checked. And when the optometrist checked my eyes he gave me the choice of new glasses that fit my perspective or just fixing the eyes with a spell", Harry explained.

"Thanks, Ron", Harry said as he opened his present to find an assortment of chocolates.

Ron's ears turned red from embarrassment and he ducked his head as he muttered 'it's alright'.

"So how has it been here at Laurels? Nice room, by the way, Laurel", Ron said as he looked around and said down beside Harry at the chest board.

"It's been great. Best summer I've ever had", Harry said, smiling at Laurel as she smiled back.

Ron had been catching them up on everything going on at the Burrow with his family. Apparently, Fred and George had been getting into trouble for experimenting with lollies and things and had given Percy a sweet that had made his tongue swell up and grown almost to the size of a small person. It had taken Molly ten minutes just to calm Percy enough to let her undo the spell, while Fred and George had been made to clean out the chicken coop until it was pristine, which took hours apparently as the chickens were still in with them. Molly sure knew how to punish her children.

They talked for another ten or so minutes before Hermione came through the fireplace. Hermione hurtled out of the fireplace as soon as her feet touched the ground, strangling Harry with a hug.

"Harry, Happy Birthday!" Hermione said, releasing Harry as he massaged his neck. "What happened to your glasses, Harry? Did you break them?" Hermione asked as she studied Harry closer.

Explaining to Hermione the same story he's just told Ron, Hermione frowned, "Sorry Harry, if I'd have known you wanted them fixed I would have told you about the optometrist years ago. I just thought you liked wearing glasses. I must say, you look great without them. You're going to get a lot of attention this year."

"It's fine. I never really thought about getting my eyes checked, bit thick really", Harry grinned. "Got them fixed eventually anyway, no damage done".

Handing Harry his birthday present, Hermione watched on in excitement as Harry opened the neatly wrapped present to find a quill set with three different types of feathers, and an assortment of colored ink, as well as a wax seal set, charmed to stamp in the person's initials.

"Great present Hermione, thank you," Harry said as he looked over the quills.

"That's quite alright Harry. Now, are you going to finish your game before we have lunch" Hermione asked, looking at the board, where Laurel was just about to defeat Harry.

No one was really paying attention to the game, which was soon forgotten outright, as the four friends caught up on what each of them had been doing all summer. It was very casual, almost too casual, Laurel thought, fretting that Harry would somehow find out about the party. It was getting closer and closer to the time where Harry and Ron would need to leave. But by the time Laurel had brought all the food to the table with Ron's help (the elves had left everything ready for her while they cleaned up the backyard, they also didn't like to be seen by guests) there was only an hour to go before Harry and Ron had to leave. The band was coming at 3 o'clock to set up, along with her mother to help set up and Sirius was coming at quarter past 3 to shower, change and look presentable. The guests would be arriving around 4 o'clock, and Ron was to make sure Harry and he didn't arrive until after four thirty.

It had been tricky to find a way to communicate with Ron so that everyone was quiet and ready to surprise Harry when he walked outside, but Hermione had found these pager devices that could communicate through beeps and messages, allowing them to know exactly when Ron was coming through the fireplace, and taking Harry outside to 'find Laurel and Hermione' who were reading outside in the afternoon sun.

"Hey Harry, did you want to go to diagon ally and check out the newly updated firebolts? I heard they're even better than the one you have. All new features", Ron asked in a very enthusiast voice.

Laurel and Hermione shared a secret look while Harry replied, "Sure mate. Haven't been to the broom shop yet this year. As long as you girls don't mind", Harry said looking at them.

"It's your birthday Harry; you can do anything you want to. Hermione and I will be fine, won't we", Laurel said as she turned to Hermione.

"Yes, we'll be fine here. We'll probably just end up reading outside in the sun. It's beautiful weather today", Hermione answered perfectly.

They said goodbye to the boys, and as soon as they were gone, they both wore matching cheshsire grins.

"I can't believe the plans actually working!" Laurel said excitedly as they pulled out all the decorations that Laurel had stored away from other occasions. They carried all the boxes outside and got started. The elves had already cleaned out the garden and grassed area, leaving nothing untidy. A food table was already set up against the side of the house; no food was currently out yet. The band would be coming soon, and be setting up long the forest edge so that there would be plenty of room for guests to dance or walk around. The cake would be going on a separate table next to the food and the drinks would be kept chilled in a charmed wooden table with a lid to keep the coldness inside. Hermione and Laurel got to work, starting with fairy lights for when it got dark against the house and all in the trees. It took a long time to get everything up, and they would see how well they did it until the lights could be seen in the dark, both they were both pleased with how it looked at the moment, and moved on to putting linen on the tables, a bright gold and scarlet pattern that screamed gryffindor, as well as getting plates, napkins and cups for everyone.

By the time that was finished, the band had arrived, and needed to be shown where to set up, Hermione helped them while Laurel and her mother, who had just arrived, finished the decorating with her mother using her magic to conjure beautiful gossamer ribbons in the gryffindor colours again along the tables, doorway and chairs.

Once the band was set up, almost everything was finished, the guests would be all arriving at quarter to 2 o'clock.

Laurel was currently waiting in her room for Sirius with Hermione, while the elves finished putting all the food and drinks on the tables.

"Does your mother know what we're currently doing Laurel?" Hermione asked, pacing along her room in excitement.

"No", Laurel said scoffing, "As if I could tell her we were helping a mass murderer get into Harry Potters birthday party and letting him shower and change in my bathroom. No, she thinks we're taking our time to get ready". Laurel knew her mother would freak if she knew what her only daughter was up to. It wasn't like her mother would believe her about how Sirius was innocent, and Laurel couldn't risk her mother finding out and calling the Aurors. Harry would never forgive her.

"True, it mustn't be good though, lying to her like that," Hermione said, watching the fireplace.

"Not really. She is still my mother, but it's for a good reason".

Just then the fireplace turned green, and a haunted-looking man stepped out. Sirius looked better than he had the first time they had met in the shrieking shack, but that wasn't saying much. His hair was still overgrown and messy like he hadn't brushed it in years. And his eyes still held that dark, disturbed look to him, but when he smiled at the two girls, that all changed. His eyes held a mischievous glint to them that even Azkaban could not get rid of. His smile was warm and caring, and excited to, for the first time in thirteen years, socialize with others without anyone screaming in fright.

"Sirius! You're here. It's good to see you again", Laurel said as she came up to him and hugged the man that cared for Harry so much. Welcoming her hug with a slight hesitance as if he couldn't remember how to receive a hug, Sirius relaxed.

"It's good to see you Laurel, Hermione", Sirius said as he hugged Hermione next, "I'm grateful for you going to such lengths to let me see Harry on his birthday, grateful indeed".

"You're welcome Sirius, It's all for Harry. It's his first birthday did you know. I can't believe his relatives never celebrated any of his birthdays. He has no idea what we're planning", Hermione said with a frown as she recalled how excited and pleased Harry was with their presents.

"I know. One day, when I'm a free man, we'll all have to change that. But for now, all we can do it make today the best birthday he's ever had," Sirius said as he looked around at Laurels room.

"Nice stuffed bear leopard", Sirius teases as he saw the animal in the corner of her bookshelves.

"Thanks," Laurel said as she picked up the bottle of polyjuice potion for Sirius and the small container with the hair in it.

"You know what to do Sirius?" Laurel asked as she gave him the bottles.

"Sure do, it was required in Auror training to know how to brew and take polyjuice potion. I can't count the amount of times James and I drank the foul stuff for an assignment" Sirius reminisced.

"Now I've put clean clothes out for you, and a fresh towel, just leave your old things in the hamper once your done, the elves will clean them and have them ready for you once you leave, and you can keep the clothes in there, we don't really have any use for them," Laurel explained, "You've got around 30 minutes to shower and change, so take your time, Hermione and I will be in here getting ready, so just knock on the door just in case."

"Thank you girls", Sirius said as he left the room and found the door to her bathroom.

Already changed into their clothes, both girls were wearing muggle outfits. Hermione was in a pretty dark blue dress with a sweetheart neckline that fell just to her knees, with black blacks, while Laurel was in a lavender colored dress with spaghetti straps and a modest v neckline with silver sandals and her usual family crest necklace on.

Laurel got to work on Hermione's hair first, it didn't take too long with the magical products she had, and soon Hermione's hair was falling in soft waves around her face. Laurel chose to do hers up today, in a loose bun, with curls falling around her face. Both of them looked great as they put on the finishing touches with a little makeup.

A knock came to the door, and Laurel yelled, "Come in", as Sirius opened the door. He didn't look like Sirius though. He hadn't drunk the potion yet, which was in his hand. He was wearing plain black robes with silver on the outline. His hair was washed and dried, the long black hair falling in natural waves that had been brushed. He no longer looked like he had been sleeping on the ground, and his face was clean and pale.

"Ladies, why don't you girls look lovely on this fine afternoon," Sirius said in a jolly mood. Maybe it was from having hot water.

"Sirius you look great," Hermione said as he looked him over, seeing how different and changed he looked with a simple shower.

"Yes, you look great, I don't even think you'd need to polyjuice potion, no one would recognize you at all," Laurel joked.

"I thought I'd wait until the last minute to take the potion, vile, I must say. Hopefully, I only need to take it a couple of times before all the guests leave".

Looking at the time, it was almost time to go down, and they watched as Sirius drank a mouthful of the potion with a grimace on his face. Before their eyes, he grew a little shorter, and his hair turned gray and balding, and he got bigger around the middle. Looking in the mirror, Sirius grunted as he looked at himself.

"I look like a fat old man going to his grandson's party", Sirius said with a grin.

All of them ready, they headed downstairs where guests were already arriving, greeted by her mother as they stepped out of the fireplace.

"Ah Laurel there you are, the guests have been waiting for you and Hermione. And who's this?" Her mother asked, looking over at Sirius.

"This is Harry's uncle Garry, he visits Harry from time to time with his family and heard about the party and wanted to come. But he accidentally came through my fireplace instead, he isn't used to traveling by the floo you see," Laurel said smoothly.

"Ah good to know one of Harry's family members are here. I was worried the poor boy wouldn't have a family here, I'm Joyce, Laurels mother".

"Garry," Sirius said as he kissed her mother's hand, "a pleasure to met you".

"Well, why don't you all go outside. I think everyone is almost here, I'll let any later comers know where to go." Laurel's mother said as they continued to the back yard.

Everything looked great and they walked outside. The band was ready and set up, the food was all spread out along the tables and the giant birthday cake was out, three tiers in gold and red, with the words Harry Birthday Harry! In black writing. Guests were all mingling around, there were a lot of people. The Weasleys were in the spotlight, getting anyone they could to try some sweets they had, while the older guests like Dumbledore and McGonagall were in their own corner, sipping butterbeer and looking on at everyone else. Sirius went to join them, as the only two other people that knew who he really was, they greeted him warmly and loudly introduced themselves, while "Garry" pretended to be interested in their wands.

As they walked around, they were greeted by everyone from gryffindor, many of them excited to surprise Harry, as most had never heard about surprise parties as it was a muggle tradition.

Just as they finished talking to Pavarti and Lavender, who couldn't stop gushing at the band they were waiting patiently and talking amongst themselves, the pager that was in her purse beeped, indicating the Ron and Harry were on their way here.

"Ok everyone," Laurel shouted, getting everyone's attention, "Harry and Ron are on their way, be quiet until you see them coming around the corner and then all at once, we shout surprise".

Everyone excitedly quietened, all facing the back door waiting for Harry to come through. There were a couple of shhh sounds and muttering going on before there could faintly hear the sound of footsteps and Ron's loud voice. As they watched, the door opened and out stepped Harry first.

All at once, everyone scream, "SURPRISE!", as Harry stood there shocked.

Ron came up next to Harry and said, "Surprise, mate", laughing as his friend.

"What's all this", Harry asked. Laurel and Hermione came up to him.

"Why it's your surprise birthday party of course. Were you surprised?" Laurel teased.

"I had no idea, I kinda noticed you guys acting a little weird but just thought you were going barney off all the sugar you ate after lunch or something", Harry replied, looking at all the guests that were there. After that, they lost Harry as everyone came up and said harry birthday and give him presents. They found Harry again and walked him over to the adults where Sirius had been waiting for a chance to talk to his godson.

"Hello Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore", they all said respectfully to their teachers.

"Happy birthday Mr. Potter", McGonagall smiled at her student.

"Yes happy birthday Harry, I hope you were efficiently surprised", Dumbledore said as his eyes twinkled in mirth.

"It seems like it'd was only yesterday I was deliveryin your letter to ya Harry", Hagrid said in his thick voice as he slapped Harry on the back, making him stumble forward.

"Hello Harry," Sirius said. Confused as to who he was, Laurel giggled and whispered in his ear, "It's Sirius Harry, we couldn't have a party for you and not invite him". Looking up at Sirius in realization, Sirius winked at him as Harry hugged him."Happy Birthday Harry, nice look by the way"

"Happy Birthday Harry, nice look by the way", Sirius said before releasing his godson.

"Having fun Garry, it must be great being here to celebrate with your nephew and meeting all his friends from school", Laurel said purposefully to Harry, as Harry figured out what she was doing.

"Looking dashing Harry," Fred said, winking as the Weasleys came up to Harry to wish him a happy birthday.

"Yes looking very handsome Harry dear," George said blowing kisses at Harry, or was it Fred? Laurel couldn't tell them apart.

"Fred, George stop that. You look lovely Harry dear, your eyes really do stand out without the glasses. Such as nice shade of green", Molly said as she hugged Harry.

"Harry, good to see you," Arthur said, shaking Harry's hand.

"Happy birthday Harry," Ginny said shyly. Percy wasn't with them, along with the older Weasley sons.

As the party wore on, the band started to play fun upbeat music which got everyone dancing. The adults had mostly all left by then, all but Sirius, who had started to dance along with some of the older girls from their house, using the silliest dance moves he knew. Laurel had pulled Ron, Hermione, and Harry off to dance, all three of them unsure at first as to how to dance, but getting into it when they realized no one cared. Laurel had even danced with Sirius by the end of the night, along with Fred and George, Dean, Seamus, Neville, and then with Hermione and Ginny for a time.

After the cake had been cut, Fred and George had started a food fight, pegging cake at Harry in the face, and making him laugh so hard he fell over. After that everyone had joined in, and by the end of the afternoon, everyone had some food of desert item on themselves, as well as Neville who had fallen into the cake and was unfortunately covered from the shoes to his face in the cake. It was well into the night when the party finally broke up, with many of them laughing and thanking Laurel for the great party.

All in all, it had been the perfect day, and Laurel was glad that they had gone to the effort to plan it all. It was worth it seeing how happy and excited Harry was with all his friends and family there. Sirius had to leave after it turned dark, unable to tell them where he was going. But he had promised to stay in touch and Laurel had given him a huge bag of food and necessities for him to take with him in one of her charmed bags. She had noticed how thin and dirty he was, and ho had grabbed some leftovers from the kitchen and packed it all up.

Hermione was staying the night, along with Ron, not wanting to go home that night, all of them choosing to sleep together downstairs on the floor of the lounge room with thick blankets and lots of pillows to lay with. It had been a long day, but none of them had been able to sleep, so they had stayed up all night talking, and not falling to sleep until almost 2 am the next day.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

And I'm finished! Yay chapter 4 complete. Thank you readers who read this chapter! Stay tuned, more is coming soon.

Briane94


	5. The Quidditch World Cup - Part 1

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Hello again. I gotta say my favourite thing to write in this chapter was Laurel's need to keep her books safe. I, for one, know the feeling, since all my books are precious to me. One time, my dad accidentally bent a new book I had been reading and I made him return it and buy it again. It's an issue I have with my books. Looking back at it, I think I overreacted but I've matured since that time (I think).

I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed so far. It's great seeing everyone giving positive criticism or just saying that they liked the story.

So thank you,

TheRavenclawWeasley

Tonks94

XxDragon King DragneelxX

Katie-Liz94

Proxy1980

HermioneGranger519

Now this is canon (based on the books) so it will be longer than one chapter, two to three depending on how much of it I keep from the book and how much I add on myself. I did try to take out some of the parts you didn't need to read about, but some things are pretty important to the story line. For instance, Hermione only forms S.P.E.W after the world cup from seeing the treatment of Winky. And Harry gives Fred and George his winnings partly because their money got stolen. Which I always thought was really nice of Harry since it was the twin's life savings.

Like always please review!

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **The Quidditch World Cup - Part 1**

It was a cool morning the day that Harry and Laurel were leaving for the Burrow. They had both packed their trunks excitedly, and had everything ready by the fireplace that morning, waiting for 11 o'clock for when they would be leaving.

Currently, Laurel was at this time, trying to get back the two history books that Laurel had packed in her trunk for extra reading, that Harry had stolen. Since history was the most boring class and even she couldn't stay awake through the whole lesson like Hermione, Laurel needed extra reading for the subject, though Hermione did lend her her notes since she made the effort to actually pay attention, and other than history, her attention was 100 percent in every other class. Unlike two boys she knew of.

"Harry James Potter! You get back here this instant!" Laurel screamed in mock anger as she ran down the stairs two at a time.

"I seriously doubt the library has anything you can use to study with. If something happens to these two books right here, you might actually get an E or maybe even an A," Harry teased as he flaunted the two books in his hand, coming to a stop at the back of the couch. Walking over purposefully, with the couch directly in-between them Laurel stopped.

"Please," Laurel said innocently as she looked up at him sweetly.

"You're no fun", Harry said jokingly, giving up and handing her the books back.

"Why thank you kind sir, and who says I'm not fun," Laurel said, grabbing one of the throw pillows from the couch and hitting him with it.

Half an hour later, they were both tired from their impromptu pillow fight and were ready to head off to the Weasley's. Harry went first, grabbing his trunk, broom and Hedwig's cage as she was already instructed to fly and wait over there and with green flames, Harry was gone.

Waiting a couple of seconds before she too would leave, she quietly looked around one last time, mentally saying goodbye to the house. It was silly, but it was something she'd done every time she knew she was leaving for a long period of time, something she hadn't told anyone about.

With a mental shake of her head, she grabbed the floo powder and dropped it into the flames, watching has they turned green. She stepped into the warm green flames, smiling at the feeling of strange yet nice feeling of it, and shouted the words that would take her to Ron's house.

As she handed in the fireplace, she opened her eyes to the colorful living room that belonged to the Weasleys. Harry was already dusting himself off, with Molly fussing over him, and as she stepped out, she was engulfed in a motherly hug.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley, thank you for inviting us to your home for the rest of the summer," Laurel said politely, manners that had been drilled into her from a young age.

"Your quit welcome dear, it's no trouble all," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, "Bill! Charlie! Can you come out here and meet your brother's friends".

Two red-haired people, Laurel had never met before, walked out from the kitchen, obliviously Bill and Charlie, the two eldest Weasley brothers that Laurel had heard about.

"How're you doing Harry, Laurel?" Said the closest one, grinning at them both. Holding out his hand, Harry and Laurel both shook his hand, feeling the calluses and blisters on his tanned skin.

"I'm Charlie", the young man said. Laurel knew from what Ron had told her, the Charlie worked with dragons in Romania. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and on closer inspection, his tanned skinned was actually his freckles that almost blended it together, creating the allusion of tanned skin. His arms were muscular, with one having a fresh burn on it, from dragon Laurel, would guess. Laurel would never admit it, but he was really good looking, and if he were still in Hogwarts, Laurel would probably have a crush on him, but he was far too old for her at his current age.

Bill, on the other hand, worked for the wizarding bank Gringotts and had also been head boy at Hogwarts. Laurel would assume he was somewhat like Percy, maybe even a role model for Percy to follow in his footsteps, never stepping a toe out of line or bending the rules. However, Bill as well was very good looking. Laurel was starting to think she made friends with the wrong Weasleys. He was tall, with long hair that was tied back in a ponytail, and had that cool vibe. He was also wearing an earring with a fang dangling from it, and clothes that Laurel wasn't really familiar with. A leather jacket with a loose shirt, jeans, and boots made from dragon hide.

As Bill introduced himself, he smiled wickedly at Laurel, who blushed as a result and mumbled a hello.

"Sorry about missing your party the other day Harry, we only just got back into town yesterday. Wished I'd been there, the twins tell me it was pretty fun", Bill said, making conversation.

"It was an awesome party, Laurel planned it all mostly by herself. It was great", Harry said.

"That's interesting. I couldn't see many people going all out like that. You guys must be pretty good friends then", Charlie said.

"Best friends, along with Ron and Hermione. But it was nothing. Harry deserved a real birthday party", Laurel said, trying to brush off the compliments.

"Na it still pretty nice of you. She's a keeper Harry", Bill joked as be Laurel, mortified, dragged Harry upstairs to find Ron.

"Let's go find Ron and Hermione, Harry", Laurel said, as the laughing brothers faded up the stairs. As they made their way the stairs, a young girl opened a door. This was Ginny, the youngest Weasley. Ginny was a pretty girl with the trade mark red hair and freckles, and she was starting to get taller. She'd be in her third year at Hogwarts this year, and as she saw Harry, she muttered a quick hello, not ever looking at Laurel, and blushed scarlet red before shutting the door to the room she was in.

"That was interesting. I see she still can't be in the same room as you," Laurel observed. This had been going on for a while now. At the party she hadn't been this shy and awkward around Harry, maybe it was to do with the fact that they were at her house? Hopefully, the younger girl got used to Harry after a while since they would be staying in the same house for the next couple of weeks.

"Yeah she's usually not that shy anymore. Maybe it was because you were here as well?" Harry said as they continued up the stairs to the top room which belonged to Ron.

"You know, Hermione said something like that to the other day. I'm imitating or something like that. As if", Laurel laughed softly.

"Well, you kinda are I think to anyone that doesn't know you. Your just so..ah..um" Harry started but stopped awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm what?" Laurel asked.

"You know...pretty. Ginny's probably just nervous around you. And you and Hermione will be staying in her room, and she doesn't really know you that well. Just wait, give it until tomorrow and I think she'll ease up."

"I hope so. It'll be fun just us girls sleeping in the same room", Laurel mused to herself.

As they came to the last room, they heard voices inside, obviously, Ron and Hermione, arguing about something or rather.

Harry knocked on the door before opening it, not waiting for anyone to answer.

"Hey Harry, Laurel", Ron said.

"Hermione!" Laurel said happily as she went and sat next to her best friend, "Hey Ron, nice room."

The room where Ron slept was very maroon. Posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were whirling and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large frog. Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, but instead, there was the tiny gray owl that had delivered Ron's letter to Laurel at her house. It was hopping up and down in a small cage and twittering madly.

Laurel went over to the cage, cooing at the cute owl as she let it out of the cage and he hopped onto her arm.

"He's so cute Ron. I love him. Why do you keep him in the cage?" Laurel asked as the owl calmed down in her arms and made soft hooting noises, almost to the equivalent of a cats purr.

"How'd you do that?" Ron exclaimed as he came up to her.

"Do what?"

"Make him shut up. Pigs never shuts up", Ron said as he eyed his owl in her arms suspiciously.

"I don't know? Maybe he just needed attention, Ron. You've left him in the cage, he obliviously wanted to get out".

"I tried that! He just flew around the room and became louder and it took ten minutes me and Hermione to catch him. Bloody hell, he must like you better than me".

"I'm sure the owl likes you, Ron. Laurel just has a way with animals," Hermione said matter of factly.

"Er - why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron.

"Because he's being stupid," said Hermione, "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."

"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. "Ginny named him," he explained to Harry. "She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that."

"By the way," Ron said as he edged between two of the four beds that had been squeezed into his room, "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in their room," he told Harry. "Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work."

"Have fun with that," Laurel said, sharing a lucky look with Hermione. She wouldn't want to share a small room with three other people. Two was enough for her.

"Where's Crookshanks?" Harry asked Hermione now.

"Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."

"Percy's enjoying work, then?" said Harry, sitting down on one of the beds and watching the Chudley Cannons zooming in and out of the posters on the ceiling.

"Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. According to Mr. Crouch...as I was saying to Mr. Crouch... Mr. Crouch is of the opinion...Mr. Crouch was telling me...They'll be announcing their engagement any day now. And don't ask about his job at all actually don't unless you want to listen to him talk about how important his job is for an hour straight".

"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Hermione, "how was the rest of your stay with Laurel and her mother".

"Yeah it was great. Laurel's mom wasn't there that much, only for dinner really, so we basically had the whole place to ourselves. We went swimming every day. They have this great river that runs through the property with a waterfall and you can jump down from the cliff. I can't count a number of times I jumped off it. It's amazing".

"We'll all have to make a day of it next summer. Maybe even go camping." Laurel said, adding in her thoughts as she petted Pig quietly.

"That sounds like fun Mate," Ron said, "Listen to, have you heard fromSirius,mum" Ron asked as he whispered Sirius's name.

"Yeah, I wrote to him the other day actually", he started telling them about his dream and his letters from Sirius over the summer.

"That's ruff buddy. It's kind of scary, your scare hurting. Do you think it's a sign that something bad is going to happen?" Ron said nervously.

"Honestly Ron. You just jump to the worst conclusions. Maybe I could look into it once we're back at Hogwarts. They must have something about scares", Hermione stated. "Shall we go down and help your mom with dinner?"

"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The four of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley walking past the living room and walking into the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.

"What's wrong with your mom Ron?" Laurel whispered.

"Oh, Fred and George, they've started Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes".

"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they joined Ginny in the living room.

Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that..."

"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."

"Only, most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous," said Ron, "and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms...She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."

O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of fifteen, which they'd be taking next year.

"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."

The conversation stopped when they got into the kitchen.

"We're eating out in the garden," Mrs. Weasley said when they came in. "There's just not room for twelve people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you two," she said to Ron and Harry, pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.

"Oh for heaven's sake," she snapped, now directing her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating across the floor, scooping up the potatoes. "Those two!" she burst out savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard, and Laurel figured she was talking about Fred and George. Laurel felt bad for Mrs. Weasley, she just wanted o best for her children, "I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can..." Laurel heard as she headed outside with Hermione and a stack of plates each.

A minute later Harry and Ron came out, looking nervous as they quickly set the table.

They left Mrs. Weasley and headed out the back door into the yard.

The rest of the night went by mostly smoothly, with only one or two small arguments. They would be getting up at dawn the next morning for the world cup, so Mrs. Weasley sent them all off to bed early while she cleaned up after everyone.

As Ginny, Hermione and Laurel all went into Ginny's room, they found their beds already made up for them, curtsy of Ginny.

As they got ready for bed, Ginny slowly warmed up to Laurel being around. Laurel kind of felt bad for the way that Ginny was acting, she should have tried to become friends with her more last year or in second year. Thinking to herself, Laurel told herself she'd make more of an effort this year. They could really be good friends if they tried. Maybe she'd offer to help Ginny study or study with her when they got back to Hogwarts.

"Are you excited about the world cup tomorrow Ginny? You like Quidditch more than Hermione and I", Laurel said they all got into bed. Ginny slept on her bed, while Hermione and Laurel both had thick mattresses on the floor. It wasn't bad, it was cosy.

"Yes! I can't believe in just a couple of hours we'll be getting up to leave", Ginny said excitedly, opening up.

"Did you know, the Quidditch Cup dates back over a hundred years," Hermione said.

Groaning, Laurel said, "Hermione, it's too late in the night for facts". Ginny laughed at that, while Hermione huffed at them jokingly knowing that Laurel was only teasing her. Saying Goodnight, Ginny turned off the light and they all fitfully went to sleep, too excited about the events tomorrow.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

In the early hours of the morning the next day, Laurel was woken up by Mrs. Weasley coming into their room and gently waking Ginny up. Hermione was just coming to as Laurel sat up.

"Ah good, you're all up, I've just got to go and wake the boys. Make sure you get ready quickly, there isn't a lot of time until you have to leave," the mother said before quickly shutting the door.

Laurel was so sleepy; she wanted to lay her head back on her pillow and sleep for another five hours. It was way too early.

"Come on girls! The Quidditch World Cup", Ginny said with enthusiasm as she changed. Groaning, Laurel found the clothes shed already laid out for her the night before and quickly changed into jeans, a long sleeved light green top and comfortable boots. Looking out the window, it was still dark, but the sun would be rising in an hour or so. Looking at herself in Ginny's mirror, Laurel tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and grimaced at how pale and drowsy she looked with bags under her eyes. Hopefully, some sun would change that once they got out in the open air.

She grabbed the tickets for herself and Hermione, along with her bag with everything she would need, and some things she might not need, but you could never be too prepared, especially when your bag had a charm on it to become feather light and extent its mass magically.

As they came down the stairs, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were tiredly coming down the stairs as well from their room.

As they all piled into the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as all entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.

"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Harry?"

"Yeah," said Harry, smiling, "very good."

"Where's Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.

"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."

"Here are our tickets Mr. Weasley, in case I lose them," Laurel said, handing over the two tickets she had.

"Ah yes thank you. I'll keep them safe with the rest of them".

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes at the table.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?" Laurel looked up, walking? That sounded nice, out in the fresh air as long as it wasn't too far.

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup..."

"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.

"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"Mrs. Weasley said loudly, as Laurel winced in sympathy for the twins.

Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"

Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.

"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"

It was an unpleasant scene for Laurel, as well as everyone else watching on in silence. The twins had tried to take as many toffees out of the house as possible by the looks of it, and all of them were now being taken away, every last one with the use of the summoning charm.

"Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.

"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

The day was turned out to start with a not so good atmosphere, and Laurel awkwardly ate her breakfast quickly before they departed. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.

"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as Laurel, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.

It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Laurel loved it, and was wide awake now, the only one really along with Mr. Weasley. There was something lovely about walking in the darkness with the moon out.

Laurel watched as Harry walked up to her and Mr. Weasley and she smiled up at him.

"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" he asked.

"It's been a massive organizational problem," sighed Mr. Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."

Mr. Weasley pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.

"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" said Harry curiously.

"Well, they can be anything," said Mr. Weasley. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them...stuff they'll just think is litter..."

"Like my necklace Harry," Laurel said as she touched the silver gently, "though it's a different type of portkey, it only takes the holder to the Flamel mansion".

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling me about them now," Harry said sleepily.

As they continued walking, Laurel started to become warmer, as the exercise heated her body up. As they started up the long climb to Stoatshead Hill, Laurel stumbled into a rabbit hole, and also fell weren't it not for Harry grabbing her at the last second.

"Thanks," Laurel said in a gasp as she righted herself and began walking again.

"No problem,"

"Falling for Harry are we," Fred said jokingly.

Laurel ignored the twin joking as she struggled up the hill, it wasn't as much fun going uphill anymore. Laurel would need a shower after this.

"Whew," panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes."

Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.

"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big...Come on..."

They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it."

Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.

"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.

Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand. It didn't look very sanitary to Laurel, she didn't really want to touch it.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts. Laurel and Hermione shared a look, both smiled at they met Cedrics eyes.

"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all.

Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. Laurel rolled her eyes, apparently, they still held a grudge against Cedric.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Cedric's father asked. "Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still...not complaining...Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy..." Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione and Laurel, friends of Ron's - and Harry, another friend -"

"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er - yeah," said Harry. Laurel hated it when people did that, making Harry feel awkward and uneasy. He's never been one for loving attention.

Laurel listened as Amos went on about his son beating Harry, and Laurel started to dislike his slightly, what did it matter if Cedric won or lost. And Harry was clearly becoming more and more uncomfortable.

"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?" Breaking the thick tension.

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off...We'd better get ready..."

He looked around at Harry and Hermione. Laurel and the other Weasleys obviously knew how to travel via portkey.

"You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do -"

With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the ten of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory.

They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop. Nobody spoke. The silence wasn't too bad, better than Amos starting up a conversation about Cedric being the better flier again.  
"Three..." muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, two...one..."

It happened immediately. In a familiar pull, they were gone, and Laurels feet were gently landing on the solid ground after a few seconds. Looking around, Ron had fallen on top of Harry, while Hermione was getting back on her feet after falling sideways.

After being led to their campsite, they parted ways with the Diggory's. Mr. Weasley paid for the tent, after needing help from Harry. And then there was an issue with the muggle employee that had to be obliviated but after that, they quickly found their camping site. Laurel didn't know anything about putting a tent up, so she left that to Harry and Hermione, while Mr. Weasley kept trying to help but ended up making things worse.

"We'll be a bit cramped," Mr Weasley said as he entered the now finished tent first, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."

Laurel giggled at Hermione and Harry before entering the tent. The tent was small inside but would fit them all just fine. It was a three roomed tent, along with a bathroom and kitchen. It was old fashioned and needed an update on the furniture, but it was liveable.

Hermione and Harry were open-mouthed when they came in, shocked at the livable tent.

After a long trip with many stops to collect water, and then starting the fire, they all sat down outside and watched the flames as eggs and sausages cooked.

They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them. "Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Ludo Bagman, from what Laurel saw of the man, looking nothing like a Quidditch player. He was tall, with a bulging belly, rosy cheeks, and a nose that looked like it had been broken a fair few times. They fell into an easy conversation after that until Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched.

"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger, Laurel Flamel and Harry Potter."

Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets -"

Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."

"Oh...go on then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see...a Galleon on Ireland to win?"

"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed but recovered himself. "Very well, very well...any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like -"

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that," Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"

Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.

"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting...That's all your savings...Your mother -"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance...I'll give you excellent odds on that one...We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we..."

Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.

"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley. Laurel frowned in disapproval, gambling your life savings wasn't something you if you were smart, and the twins were usually smart, despite what some people might think.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

As the day wore on the atmosphere started to change gradually, you could feel it in the air, a slight buzz of excitement. As darkness spread throughout the camping grounds, more and more witches and wizards forgo the restriction of magic, and then ministry officials didn't seem to care.

Every few steps Laurel took, a sales person would suddenly apparate, carrying trays and pushing carts full of merchandise. Laurel bought five scarfs, green for Ireland, for herself, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. There were also luminous rosettes - green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria - which was squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves.

"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him.

"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," said the sales wizard eagerly. "You can replay action...slow everything down...and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain - ten Galleons each."

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.

"Four pairs," said Harry firmly to the wizard.

"Harry I can buy my own," Laurel stated at the wizard, handing him her money. She didn't want Harry wasting his money when she herself didn't have to worry about spending too much. Her family could turn liquid into gold and as such were well off, it didn't seem fair.

"No - don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Harry and Laurel had money to spend all the time. Laurel didn't mind buying her friends things, but sometimes they felt like they owed them. Harry had his small fortune from his parents, which still meant he had more money than Ron, but even still, that money would have to last all seven years through Hogwarts before he was allowed access to the family vault. The Potters had been an ancient and noble house like Laurel's family.

"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands. "For about ten years, mind."

"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look -"

Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold.

And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"


	6. The Quidditch World Cup - Part 2

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

I was trying so hard to get this finished before I went to bed tonight. I apologies in advance for any spelling mistakes I just wanted it up since it's been about two weeks since I last updated. I've just been so busy with work, working six days straight and then on my one day off I have to see friends and just get everything I needed done for that week. Its been really busy.

Hope you enjoy, I tried to add as much as possible but again it is hard when I'm going from the books. Please review!

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **The Quidditch World Cup - Part 2**

As everyone gathered their purchases, Mr. Weasley lead them as they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. It was quit loud, with thousands of people chatting and shouting excitedly as they all walked through the forest from different trails. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Laurel couldn't stop the excitement that was making her bounce on the balls of her feet.

As they walked, the twins kept everyone laughing and joking.

"Harry mate. You've never seen a professional quidditch match before have you", one of the twins asked, Laurel didn't know which one though.

"No, why. Is it any different", Harry asked.

"Is it any different he asks", said one.

"Of course it is Harry. Nothing like school Quidditch as all. Way more brutal and bloody".

Twenty-something minutes later, they found themselves at the stadium. Laurel looked at it in wonder. She had never seen anything too big in her life, well besides Hogwarts castle. The stadium was grand, at least 3 times the size of the Quidditch field at Hogwarts, with thousands of rows of seats. The ceiling curved in, making Laurel wonder how it stayed up like that and didn't collapse in on itself. And it was starting to get crowded as people flocked around and into the stadium.

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Harry's and Laurels faces.

"Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again...bless them," he added fondly, leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last, they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Laurel, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, looked down upon a scene the likes of which she had never seen before.

A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Laurels eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Laurel saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.

The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer...Mrs. Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!...Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade...

As Laurel took her eyes from the advertisement, she looked around to see who else they would be sitting with. Harry was on her left, and Hermione on her right. So far the rest of the box was empty, except for a house elf sitting in the second from last seat at the end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs were so short they stuck out in front of it on the chair, was wearing a tea-towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. Odd place for a house elf, Laurel thought to herself, just as Harry noticed the creature as well.

"Dobby?" said Harry incredulously. Laurel, who had never met Dobby, looked at the elf in excitement. Was this the house elf that had caused so much trouble in their second year?

The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look as well. Though they all had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.

"Sorry," Harry told the elf, "I just thought you were someone I knew."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf. She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.

"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why?" said Harry, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir, " said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?" said Harry.

Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, "He is wanting paying for his work, sir."

"Paying?" said Harry blankly. "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"

Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again. Laurel could understand, it wasn't in nature for a house elf to ask for payment, it was be insulting if they even asked. They didn't do their work for money, they did it because they loved working with humans, especially families.

"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."

"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Harry.

"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter," said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter" - she glanced toward the edge of the box and gulped - "but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir."

"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Harry, frowning.

"Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy," said Winky, tilting her head toward the empty space beside her. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."

She gave the edge of the box another frightened look and hid her eyes completely again. Harry turned back to the others.

"So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby was weirder," said Harry fervently.

"Some of them aren't that bad, they just have strict ways of thinking. You can't change their ideals", Laurel said.

Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing them, staring down into the crowd on the other side of the stadium.

"Wild!" he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again...and again...and again..."

"You're so mature Ron, honestly," Laurel teased.

Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet covered, tasseled program.

"'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,"' she read aloud.

"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered. Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Harry, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted like an old friend. They had met before, and Fudge shook Harry's hand in a fatherly fashion, asked how he was, and introduced him to the wizards on either side of him.

Laurel was also too greeted by the Minister and other high-ranking employees from the ministry that knew her family. Laurel politely greeted everyone one, not wanting to be rude. Her family name did reserve the respect of many people.

"Laurel," Hermione asked once she was back in her seat, "I get why everyone is greeting Harry, but how come everyone seems to know you?"

Laurel looked over and even Ron, who wasn't the smartest wizard, looked at her in shock.

"Don't you know anything about the Flamels Hermione?" Ron asked in confusion at Hermione not knowing something he did.

"Well yes, but I don't understand the importance," Hermione said in annoyance.

"Unless you know a lot about the ministry you wouldn't know, but my family has a place on the International Confederation of Wizards and in the Wizengamot, as well as being an ancient and noble family and inventing the philosopher's stone. It's pretty important in our world", Laurel explained.

"Mmm, I never thought of it like that. How do you become an ancient and noble house?", Hermione asked. As Laurel explained the workings of the ministry and family importance and all that, the top box started to become pretty full. Harry was still talking to the minister.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Harry. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat...Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places...ah, and here's Lucius!"

Harry, Laurel, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to three still-empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the house-elf's former owners: Lucius Malfoy; his son, Draco; and a woman Laurel knew to be Draco's mother.

Harry and Draco Malfoy had been enemies ever since their very first journey to Hogwarts. A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his father. His mother was blonde too; tall and slim, and was attractive, though her beauty was tarnished by a scowl that she had on her face, as if she didn't want to be here.

"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other. Mr. Malfoy's cold gray eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.

"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.

Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him. Laurel glared at him beside Hermione, not afraid of him, her family had just as much power in the ministry, if not more.

He nodded sneeringly to Mr. Weasley and continued down the line to his seats. Draco shot Harry, Laurel, Ron, and Hermione one contemptuous look, then settled himself between his mother and father.

"Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Laurel, Harry, and Hermione turned to face the field again. Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.

"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister - ready to go?"

"Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.

Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The quidditch world cup was over. Krum had caught the snitch, but Irland had won the match. The crowd had gone wild. It seemed like forever for everyone to quiet down before the cup was given to the winning team and then everyone went crazy again, clapping and screaming.

They were all soon leaving the stadium, after what felt like an hour of clapping for the winning team. When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in.

They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed.

Hermione, Laurel, and Ginny went into one tent, and the Harry and the Weasleys all went into the other tent. Ginny didn't even bother getting changed; she crashed right on top of the first bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Laurel and Hermione were still too excited for bed and stayed up talking about the match. From the other side of the campsite, they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.

Laurel didn't know when they fell asleep, but they both ended up sprawled out on the one bed, still fully clothed.

Laurel was suddenly shaken awake, what seemed like only minutes later by Hermione. As Laurel opened her eyes and sat up, she would tell something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. She could hear screams and the sound of people running.

"Come on! We have to go!" Hermione shouted to her and Ginny and they both bolted up. They were all luckily still in their clothes, and quickly they grabbed their bags, Laurel took out her wand along with Hermione and Ginny and they headed outside.

They ran over to the Weasleys and Harry, all of them stared at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

By the light of the few fires that were still burning, Laurel could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.

A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Laurel looked closer trying to see their faces and then she realized. They were death eaters and she couldn't see their faces because they wore masks. High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small. Laurel looked on in horror.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. A few times Laurel saw one of the marcher's blast tents out of the way, as fires started from the blasts, quickly spreading. The screaming grew louder and louder as Laurel put her hand to her mouth in disgust and horror at the actions of these wizards.

As more light suddenly light the area, Laurel realized she recognized one of them. Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager that had directed them to their campsite area. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.

"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick..."

Mr. Weasley hurried over. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.

"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.

"C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Harry, Laurel, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.

As Laurel raced after her friends, the crowd began to worsen, making it harder for her to stay with the group. She grabbed onto Harry's hand, clinging on so that she didn't get separated. A sudden jolt from someone crashing into her reached her hand from Harry's and she fell to the forest floor.

"Ow," Laurel whispered as she pulled herself up, noticing a sharp pain in her left hand. It was too dark to see what was wrong with her hand. Luckily she hadn't dropped her wand and cast Lumos.

The soft light made it clear to see that she had a deep cut on her hand from falling over. Blood was already covering her hand and she'd gotten some on her coat as well.

Not having time to deal with her hand yet, she looked around for everyone.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione!" Laurel called, but her voice was lost in the mayhem. She frantically searched for them, knowing they'd gone somewhere into the forest, but not knowing where. She thought it had been left; back towards to stadium, and so hesitantly she quickly walked that way.

As she walked, she noticed the crowd lessened leaving her alone mostly with the random group hurrying past her every now and then, but no sight of Harry, Ron or Hermione.

A loud bang rang through the forest Laurel jumped, noticing how quiet it had suddenly gotten. Had she gone too deep into the forest? Was she going in the complete opposite direction to everyone else? She didn't know. She shivered, but not from the cold.

With her wand in front of her, she continued on, deciding that standing still would get her nowhere.

And she called out, "Harry, Ron, Hermione", and waited. Just as she was about to keep walking she heard a twig snap and turned around.

"Hello?" She called out, hesitant as to what was making the noise.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing all by yourself," a voice called out as a young man walked slowly out from behind a tree. He looked disturbed, slightly drunk maybe, with dirt over his clothes.

"None of your business," Laurel said, holding her wand tighter as her Lumos spell was still lighting the area. Laurel started to get nervous, please let him leave she thought. She had a bad feeling. It was if even the forest heard her thoughts. Everything seems to grow darker, quieter.

"Now why don't you come on with me, I'll help you find your friends," he said in a sly voice as he stepped closer. She watched carefully as he put his hand inside his pocket.

"Get away from me!" Laurel said as strong as she could as her hands started to shake.

"You heard her. She doesn't need your help," A strong voice said from behind her. She spun around, startled, just as she saw a flash of light from a spell from her peripheral vision.

Laurel turned around as she saw the spell coming towards her. Just as it was about it hit her, a protection shield went up, blocking the spell.

"Stupefy", the familiar voice shouted. Laurel saw a jet of red light hit the man before he was stunned and fell to the ground.

Laurel turned around again, seeing that it was Cedric that had saved her. She didn't know why, but seeing a familiar face almost brought her to tears with relief and to her shock and his, she ran up and hugged him.

"Thank you so much", she said quietly as she let go of him, wiping away a stray tear that she didn't know had fallen. Cedric looked down at her and smiled warmly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I was here to help, though I think you could have taken care of him if you had to. What a tosser. I don't understand why he was harassing you like that." Cedric said as he scowled at the man on the forest floor.

"I have no idea, he just came out of nowhere and was saying he'd help me find my friends. But I just got that feeling that he wasn't the type of person to help a total stranger," Laurel shuttered at the memory.

"Are you lost?" Cedric asked.

"Yes, I lost everyone after we went into the forest, I was pushed over and when I got up, I wouldn't see them anymore," Laurel explained as she showed him her hand.

"Let me see what I can do", Cedric said, taking her hand gently and pulling out his wand,

" Tergeo". Before her eyes, Laurels cut was cleaned of all the dried blood and dirt, she winced at the sensation.

"Episkey", Cedric then said. Laurel watched in fascination as her cut healed. She flexed her hand, making sure it really was gone and smiled.

"Thank you again, Cedric," Laurel said.

"Now why don't we stick together until we find my father or the Weasleys? I'm sure their all looking for us." Laurel nodded in agreed, relieved to finally be around someone she knew, if only as an acquaintance.

"I hope everyone's okay. Mr. Weasley and the other sons were going to help get those muggles down." Laurel said as they walked.

"I'm sure their all fine, I know Bill and Charlie from when they were at Hogwarts and no one would want to mess with them".

"What about your father. He'd he go?" Laurel asked.

"He also went to help. He was so furious when he saw those muggles being treated like that he took off and told me to say in the forest and to be safe until he found me. So that's what I was doing when I found you".

Just as they were walking through a clearing, Laurel saw something green light up in the sky.

"Cedric, look", Laurel said, wondering what it was. Then as she realized what it was she turned pale.

"You don't think..." Laurel started as she stared into the sky in terror.

"I don't know. I hope not," Cedric said quietly. There was only one reason the dark mark was cast, it let anyone know that someone had died, someone by Voldemorts command.

"Do you think it's safe to go back to the camping grounds now? I haven't heard anything for a while?" Laurel said.

"Maybe, let's head in that direction and see". Walking on, they chatted idly to distract themselves from everything. They walked for another ten minutes or so before they found the edge of the forest where the camping grounds started. Everything was a mess as they walked out of the forest. Tents had been burned or were left in disarray, there were burnt marks on the ground from spells, as well as broken items and clothes scattered around. People were gathered in groups, talking quietly or looking for friends or family. Children were crying out.

As they walked through, Cedric father came running over, seeing his son alive and safe.

"Cedric thank god!" He exclaimed as he hugged his son.

"Laurel, what are you doing here?" He asked as he saw her standing next to Cedric.

"I got separated from the Weasleys sir, and Cedric found me", Laurel explained.

"Ah Cedric, helping a lady in need. I raised him that way. He's always been a good lad. I know the Weasleys have been frantic looking for you. But I did see then heading towards their camping area. Why don't you walk her back Cedric and I'll go fix up our tent," Amos said, proud of his sons gallantly.

Nodding at his father, they headed towards where she had been staying.

"Sorry about my father. He's really just proud of me and doesn't know when to stop", Cedric said as he sighed in annoyance. Laurel could tell he didn't really mean that he loved his father.

"That's okay. I know my mother likes to do that as well. It's like they have a book that tells that how to embarrass your kid in the worst ways possible", Laurel said jokingly but it fell flat.

"You know, I'm not sorry I bumped into you earlier. It was nice talking to someone new for a change, it was refreshing. Especially with everything that happened tonight. We should hang out at Hogwarts when we get back some time, you know as friends", Cedric said flushing at his awkward way with words.

"I'd like that too, as friends", Laurel joked, "Thank you again for before. And if you could keep that to yourself. I just don't want everyone talking about it. I just want to forget it".

"Ok, but if you ever need to talk".

As they came into the distance of the tents, Hermione, Ron, and Harry, who had been waiting anxiously outside the tent, spotted her and came racing over.

"Laurel where have you been", Hermione said, hugging her.

"You gave us a right scare, did you know that!" Ron said, but he didn't mean it.

"I'm sorry guys. After I fell over I couldn't find you. So I just kept walking around and then Cedric found me and we stuck together until we figured it was all clear and came back," Laurel explained again for what seemed like that tenth time tonight.

"As long as your fine", Harry said, looking at her dirty clothes, "Thanks, Cedric."

"It's fine. Well, I better be off. Dad's waiting for me. See you around Laurel, guys", Cedric nodded at them and left.

Before they talked, Laurel needed a shower. It was a long time before she came out, in clean clothes. And as they filled her in on what had happened to them while she was lost, Laurel was amazed and troubled by everything that had happened. Especially about Winky. That just wasn't like a house elf to do something like that. Hermione seems to be really defensive about it all.

After Laurel explained quickly what had happened to her and how Cedric had helped her. There were mixed reactions among them, Harry was protective, while Ron had been angry about it and Hermione wanted to report it to the ministry and get them to find the wizard. Laurel didn't think the ministry had time at the moment and anyway, nothing had happened.

With that, they were all off to bed, tired after all the events that had happened tonight.

* * *

 **Author note**

Cedric is not a love interest. Just wanted to make that clear. I am thinking of them becoming close friends and what not. I did love Cedric. I'm also contemplating not having him killed. But we'll see.


	7. Egg Shells

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

This was just kind of a cute little chapter about the snidget before they go off to Hogwarts. I'm excited to finally have the egg hatch. I love snidgets; I wish they had been mentioned more in the books, or even hopefully in one of the next fantastic beast movies. I've only ever read maybe one or two fanfics that have them in as a pet or companion. Which is sad, they're so cool.

So enjoy, hopefully the next chapter will be up by tomorrow. Please review like always.

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **Egg Shells**

It was only what felt like minutes later that Laurel, Hermione and Ginny were being woken up. All of them groaned in annoyance at being woken up so early. Tiredly getting dressed, Laurel put on her shirt, before realising it was on backwards and groaned again. It was too early.

After quickly packing up everything up magically, Mr. Weasley led them quickly to a line of wizards and witches that had to decides make an early start to get home as well. It was a quiet trip, all of them too exhausted to talk, only concentrating on moving their feet as they slowly made their way back to the Burrow. It would have been easier to apparate, Laurel thought, longingly thinking about her bed.

As they came within seeing distance of the shabby house, a cry echoed throughout the house, causing everyone to wince as what was to come.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"

Mrs. Weasley, still in her bedroom attire, was waiting for them in the front yard, her face pale and strained, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand.

"Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried -"

After calming Mrs. Weasley down, they all went inside to discuss the recent events. After reading the paper, Mr. Weasley, along with Percy, decided it would be best if they went into the ministry. With Mrs. Weasley still too upset to cook anything after a cup of tea with fire whiskey, Laurel got Hermione and Ginny up and they started cooking food for everyone. Harry even helped, cooking the bacon while Laurel set the table, Hermione made the tea, and Ginny cooked the eggs.

It wasn't the best breakfast they'd ever had, but it was food, and they were all hungry. Laurel had even made toast for everyone.

After breakfast, they were more awake now and Laurel, Harry, Hermione and Ron went up to Ron's room to talk.

"Oh my god!" Laurel suddenly exclaimed, stopping on the stair case. Harry ran into her, causing her to fall forward.

"What's wrong", Hermione called from the below.

"I completely forgot. My mother doesn't know what happened, she'll be reading the newspaper by now", Laurel fretted.

"Why don't you quickly go back home, and let her know what's happened. We'll meet you in Ron's room", Harry said.

"Good idea, I'll be back soon", Laurel said while grabbing her necklace. Muttering her family motto, she quickly disappeared from the Burrow, much to the shock of Ron and Hermione.

Softly landing in the main living room, Laurel quickly walked to the kitchen where her mother was most likely to be.

She had just walked in as her mother picked up the paper, reading the headline as she spilled tea.

"Mum. Hi I'm alright, so is Hermione and Harry and Ron." Laurel said as she sat down next to her mother.

"Oh thank god. I just saw the paper", her mother said, hugging her only daughter.

"I can't believe it. At the world cup. Where was the security?" her mother fumed as she read the article quickly.

"I don't know. It happened so fast. No one knew what to do", Laurel said, righting the teacup and wiping up the tea with a cloth.

"I'm glad you came home and let me know. God knows what I would have done if I'd seen the paper before you got here".

"Ehh yeah", Laurel muttered looking down, not mentioning the fact that she had almost forgot to come home and let her mother know she was alright.

"I'm so glad you're alright dear. Will you still be staying at the Weasleys for the rest of the summer", her mother asked.

"Yes, unless you don't want me to?" Laurel asked, hoping her mother would let her stay.

"Of course you can. I know you're safe now. That's the main thing. I know you'll be fine staying with the Weasleys. I don't know how Molly and Arthur do it, one child is enough trouble", her mother said, ruffling her hair.

"Mom!" Laurel groaned in annoyance as her messy hair.

"Come, I'll see you out", her mother said, putting the paper down and getting up. Laurel followed her to the fireplace.

"Remember to write. I love you, enjoy the rest of the summer", her mother said, as she hugged her goodbye.

"Love you to, bye", Laurel said, releasing her mother and walking into the green flames.

As she landed in the Weasleys fireplace, no one seemed to have noticed her arrival, so she quickly ran back up the stairs. The Weasleys were all still in the kitchen, well what was let of them, with Ron upstairs and Mr. Weasley and Percy at the Ministry. She heard them quietly talking as she walked past.

Not even knocking on the door, Laurel made her way into Ron's room as everyone looked up at her.

"I'm back. I got there just in time to stop a major freak out", Laurel said.

"That's good. It's just horrible for everyone waiting for their families to come back", Hermione said as she petting Croakshanks in her lap. Meanwhile, Pig was in his cage again, making a lot of noise.

"Ron, honestly, do you let Pig out at all. He needs to spread his wings and learn how to fly properly", Laurel lectured as she let the small owl out of its cage.

"Now go, have some fun", Laurel said gently as she let the owl out of the window. Pig hooted at her in thanks, and excitedly flew out and dropped a meter before hatching itself on its wings.

"You see, he'll come back after he's tired and not cause such a racket," Laurel promised.

"I guess it's worth a try", Ron muttered, peeved at Laurel telling him how to look after his pets.

Just as Laurel was about to said something, a small noise stopped her.

"Did anyone hear that?" Laurel asked, looking around the room.

"Hear what?" Harry asked. The noise sounded again, and Laurel thought it sounded like a chirp.

"That", Laurel said.

""No", Ron said, confused.

"Shhh everyone", Hermione said. They all silenced. Again the chirping was heard.

"It's coming from you Laurel", Harry said.

"Me?" Laurel said, confused. "The egg!"

Carefully, Laurel took the egg out of her pocket and held it flat in her hand for everyone to see. There were a few small cracks on the shell and the chirping got louder. She placed the egg on the ground.

"That's why you could hear it before us, Laurel. The egg was in your pocket", Hermione concluded.

They all watched silently as little by little, the egg cracked even more, before the first piece of shell fell away. A small curved peak peeked out from the whole, chirping.

"Aw," Hermione gushed.

"Come on, you can do it", Laurel muttered softly. The hatchling went back in and a bigger piece of egg shall broke away. Slowly, the Snidget broke out of its egg, chirping as it struggled. Now that it was fully out, Laurel could hear the chirping more clearly, it was somewhere between a hum and a chirp, like nothing she'd heard before.

Once it was fully out, Laurel asked, "Hermione, can you find the blue box from my bags, it's got everything I'll need please".

"I'll be back in a second".

"Ron, could you get me a soft cloth and some warm water please", Laurel asked.

"Sure thing," Ron said, getting up.

Harry and Laurel watched the little bird as it fluttered its featherless wings weakly. Once it was cleaned up they'd be able to see the small creature better, but with membrane and other stuff that Laurel didn't want to know about all over it, and on the floor of Ron's room, it wasn't the prettiest of sights.

Once Ron and Hermione were back, Laurel gently wet the cloth Ron had given her, and wiped the hatchling clean. Laurel had read in the textbook that the lady at the Magical Menagerie had given her, which explained that a snidget was an altricial species of bird,where the young are born or hatched helpless, as opposed to precocial bird species, meaning that they were more developed upon hatching, with their eyes open and having feathers already.

Gently placing it in the soft cloth she had bought for it, Laurel wrapped it up and put it in the small nest that would its home.

"Do you think it needs to be fed straight away?" Hermione asked, as the hatchling continued to chirp.

"Um, I think so. I'll see if it wants some honey", Laurel took out the jar of honey she had ready, and using a special blunt syringe, she pulled some honey into the tube and carefully and slowly put the blunt syringe at the chicks beak and watched as if on instinct, the bird opened its mouth and latched on. Laurel slowly released the honey from the tube, and once the bird was full Laurel gently pulled the syringe out of its beak. It seemed to instantly go to sleep after that.

"Wow that was cool", Ron said.

"Yeah for a first meal it ate a lot for such a small bird", Harry said.

"What are you doing to name it?" Hermione asked, curious.

"I don't know, I never thought about names".

"Wait, don't you need to find out if it's male or female", Ron asked, looking at the bird in hopes of seeing what gender it was.

"Well, I'm fairly sure this snidget is female, the book says the males have brighter features and bigger beaks, even after just hatching. But I'll get her checked out once we go back to the magical menagerie, I did promise to let them take a picture of her".

"What about Ruby, for its eyes", Harry said.

"..." Laurel thought for a moment, it wasn't a bad name, but wasn't right, "That can be the backup name".

"Goldy," Ron suggested.

Laurel shook her head, didn't fit.

"What about Piper", Hermione said.

"Piper," Laurel tested the name. She loved it.

"Piper it is".

"Knew you'd go for Hermione's name," Harry joked as they all looked down at the sleeping Piper.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next two weeks were a struggle for Laurel, Piper woke her up constantly during the night, needing to be fed every twenty minutes or so. During the day everyone helped out, especially Charlie, who was interested in her snidget and its growth. Laurel would hand Piper off to Charlie in the early hours of the morning, and get a couple of hours of sleep without any interruptions and Charlie or even Mrs. Weasley would feed the hatchling for the next couple of hours.

By the two week mark, Piper Laurel could already see the soft downy golden feathers on the snidget and the bright red eyes had fully opened. It had also started to become rounder and more golden in its feathers.

By week 3, Piper was almost fully grown, and had started to try and fly, with little results. She didn't need to be fed as much now that she could eat more during each feeding, so they only needed to feed her once every two hours, which was a relief for Laurel.

Besides feeding and taking care of Piper, the rest of the summer was spent playing Quidditch with the Weasley brothers, or studying with Hermione. Laurel wasn't really good at Quiddich, but it was fun never the less just goofing around. Everyone always had a big fuss about it when she got the ball and would try, and fail, to score a goal. Laurel had come to the conclusion that Quidditch just wasn't for her.

Once Piper was 3 and a half weeks old, Laurel decided it was time to take her for a little trip to Diagon Ally. Piper had grown all her feathers, surprisingly fast, and now looked fully grown, if only it wasn't for the inability to fly that is.

Laurel scooped Piper up in her hands as the bird hummed at her.

"Now Piper, we're going to be using the floo network, I know you don't know what that is, but it will be weird for you as it's your first time", Laurel said, trying to prepare the snidget for the journey. One thing she had found out in her readings was that snidgets were highly intelligent, similar to that of owls. They could understand what humans were saying and follow directions. She tucked Piper in her pocket, making sure that she was secure, before grabbing her bag and meeting everyone down stairs for their last trip to diagon ally. Ron was the only one that hadn't bought his school supplies yet, so they would be going with Molly as well.

"Ready", Laurel said as she walked into the living room.

Waiting her turn, Laurel fussed over the snidget, hoping that it was safe. Most creatures were fine to use the floo network. But Piper was still just a chick and Laurel was nervous.

Stepping into the fire, Laurel held one hand securely over her pocket which was occupied by Piper, and spoke, "Diagon Ally".

In seconds, she was spinning around before handing on her feet in the leaky caldron. Walking over to Hermione, Ron and Harry, she was relieved to see that Piper was fine, if not a little bit ruffled.

They waited shortly for Mrs. Weasley, before Hermione and Laurel split off to the Magical Menagerie while Ron, Harry and Mrs. Weasley went off to the bank.

As they walked, Piper pocked her head out from Laurels pocket, curious at all the new things she was seeing. Piper struggled to get out more, and Laurel had to stop the over excited creature.

"You can't fly yet, you'll plummet to the ground and get crushed", Laurel said in exasperation.

"I think maybe she's feeling left out," Hermione said as she petted Piper. So far, Piper had taken a liking to Hermione the best, besides Laurel of course. Piper also liked Ginny as well. Maybe it had something to do with them all sleeping in the same room, but so far she was more affectionate with the females in the house.

As they walked inside the shop, a young lady greeted them, "Hi, welcome to Magical Menagerie, how can I help you today".

"Hi, I'm looking for Mrs. Willock", Laurel said.

"Oh yes, she's out back, I'll just go grab her", the lady said while walking out back.

As they waited Laurel looked around. There were rats playing hop scotch, snakes, cats, ferrets, toads. So many different types of animals.

"I can't believe Croakshanks used to live here. It's so loud", Laurel commented, thinking about the poor cat being inside a cage for so long.

"I know I just had to get him after finding that out. It broke my heart seeing him like that. And now he's got so much freedom", Hermione said smiling happily.

"Ladies, how can I help", Mrs. Willock said walking behind the counter, "Ah I remember you. The lady with the snidget egg, Laurel was it".

"Yes, hello and this is my friend Hermione".

"Nice to me you," Hermione said.

"Like promised, I brought in the snidget, this is Piper," Laurel said, introducing them. She gently took Piper out from her pocket, as the tiny bird fluttered its wings and flew into the air for a couple of seconds before handing again on Laurels hand.

"Still young I see. I'd guess about 3 weeks old", Mrs. Willock said, petting the snidget gently as Piper hummed in that funny way.

"Yes, three and a half weeks old, but she hasn't been able to fly yet", Laurel said.

"That's perfectly fine, give it another week and she's be up in the air, sometimes it takes a little bit longer. I would like to run some spells, check it's healthy and put on some standard spells to protect the snidget from any diseases and such it might get. You call her Piper, so she's a girl. I'll double check for you".

They watched at Mrs. Willock picked up Piper, who wasn't much fussed at it, and put her on the bench. Waving her wand in complicated movements, they watched as they enveloped Piper as the snidget ruffled it feathers in disagreement at the treatment.

After a couple of minutes, Mrs. Willock was finally done.

"Now, you were right, the snidget is a girl. Perfectly healthy, you've done a good job raising her. Not many people could have taken on the responsibility of a hatchling, especially one as rare and valuable as a snidget. I would suggest adding in some exercise time for Piper, help her wings get stronger. Maybe less time with you carrying her around and move time leaving her to fly at her own will. Make her come to you".

"Okay, we can do that", Laurel and Hermione shared guilty looks. They were always picking Piper up if they went somewhere, or to put her back in her little nest.

"Thanks for bringing her in. I'll just get a couple of pictures of her. And then we're done".

When had said a couple of pictures, she had actually meant a thousand. Laurel and Hermione stood there for at least half an hour before the shop keeper was finally finished. She had pictures of Piper hovering for a few seconds, drinking water, walking around, side views and front views, aerial views, and close up pictures of her eyes and beak as well as her wings and feathers.

"Come on Piper", Laurel cooed, "you can do it". She watched as Piper flapped her wings in quick succession and hoovered before quickly flying up onto Laurels shoulder.

"See, she knew you weren't going to baby her, and so she put in the effort to fly. That's progress already. Keep that up. And stop by any time", Mrs. Willock said, waving as she left.

Laurel was scared that Piper would fall off her shoulder as they walked, but surprisingly Piper had amazing balance and stuck to her like glue.

"You want to check out the book shop before we meet up with Harry, Ron and Mrs. Weasley. We still have time", Laurel asked.

"Of course," Hermione said.

As they walked, they saw a couple of other students from Hogwarts, and waving or stopped to talk for a couple of seconds. Once person though, that they did not want to talk to, just happened to be inside Flourish and Blotts.

They were just browsing through the defence against the dark arts section when a loathing voice interrupted them.

"Why if it isn't the mudblood and the blood traitor", Draco Malfoy said, walking over from behind a stack of textbooks. Draco Malfoy, Laurel didn't understand what his problem was, he always seemed to want to start a fight. And calling her a blood traitor was one thing, but calling Hermione that filthy word was entirely on another level.

"I'm surprised to find you in a book shop Malfoy, I didn't think someone with as low intelligence as you would find anything useful in books", Laurel said in scorn. Piper fluttered angrily, sensing Laurels emotions.

"Go away Malfoy, there nothing here for you", Hermione added, collecting the books she wanted, as did Laurel.

"As if I'd ever listen to anything you have to say mudblood," Malfoy said in his gloating voice. It was really getting on Laurels nerves.

"What's that thing on your shoulder Flamel?" Malfoy ask in disgust, spotting Piper.

"It's a bird Malfoy, can't you tell", Laurel said.

"No, that's a snidget. Where'd you get that", Malfoy asked, curious lingering at the edge of his scornful voice.

"None of your business Malfoy, now we're leaving", Laurel said, wanting to end the conversation. As they walked past, Malfoy grabbed Piper from her shoulder, holding her in his two hands while Piper frantically started to get away, chirping and humming in agitation.

"Give her back!" Laurel shouted.

"You're hurting her Malfoy", Hermione shouted. Their worry was for nothing, for Piper, having had enough of Malfoys handling, used her shark beak to peak at Malfoys hand, drawing blood. Malfoy gasped in pain, and releasing the snidget, Laurel thought she'd drop to the ground, but Piper caught herself and flew back up to Laurel, who caught her in her hands gentle and checked her over. Piper looked tired, and her heart was pumping harder them usual.

"It's okay Piper, I won't let Malfoy hurt you again, you did such a good job", Laurel said softly as she comforted her.

"That's what you get Malfoy, you had no right to touch Piper", Hermione was telling Malfoy off.

"That thing needs to be put down. It's feral, no wonder there going instinct", Malfoy said in anger as he nursed his bleeding hand. It wasn't even that bad.

Laurel rolled her eyes, "I hope you learned your lesson Malfoy, next time you pull something like that, you'll end up in the hospital wing".

Hermione and Laurel left after that, buying their books and heading off to the leaky caldron to find everyone else.

"I can't believe Malfoy, honestly, what would possess someone to just grab someone's pet without asking and then complaining because it hurt him", Laurel was saying angrily on their way back.

"Malfoy thinks the world revolves around him, he doesn't need to ask permission, he's a Malfoy" Hermione ranted, scoffing at the thought.

The rest of the day was pleasant after that. They had lunch at the leaky caldron with Harry and Ron, Mrs. Weasley left, wanting to get some chores done for the day. Ron had gotten his dress robes, and was moaning about how bad they were.

"They can't be that bad Ron", Hermione was saying.

"Really, really, you have a look then", Ron said. He pulled out what looked like a maroon dress, with lace around the collar and lace around the cuffs.

"Err what era is it from", Laurel asked, poking the velvet fabric.

"Its ancient I tell you. I can't wear this", Ron complained, shoving the robes back into a bag.

"Ron you're just going to have to deal with it. Your mom tried her best to get you nice robes", Hermione said matter of factly.

Ron grunted, looking away.

"Maybe once we're at Hogwarts we could make it look better. I'm sure there are spells to change clothes and such. As soon as well can get to the library I'll see what I can do", Laurel said helpfully. Ron perked up after that and ate the rest of his lunch.

Once they had all eaten, even Piper, they left Diagon ally for the last time until next year. Laurel and Hermione spent the rest of the night reading through their new books, while Harry and Ron played chest, and Hedwig tried to demonstrate how to land on a perch to Piper. It was quite cute, and they all stopped and watched as Hedwig would fly from one end of the room, trying to encourage Piper to do the same. After a few minutes, Piper finally worked up the courage to take flight and flew over next to Hedwig.

Hedwig fluttered her wings and hooted in accomplishment at helping the smaller bird to learn how to fly, while Piper excitedly hummed and chirped, puffing her chest up.

"Come on now, time for bed Piper, you to Hedwig", Laurel said lovingly. Piper flew over to her nest tiredly, while Hedwig hooted at her sternly, as if to say; don't tell me when I have to go to bed, before ruffling her feathers and flying to her cage.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Thanks everyone for reading. Next chapter they'll all be off to Hogwarts, finally!


	8. Boarding the Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Hello everyone. I'm finally up to Hogwarts. Yay. This year will mostly be the same. The story line for Laurel will change a little; she's in for the shock soon. I won't say too much, but look out of the little things. They'll start to add up later on.

Cheers,

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **Boarding the Hogwarts Express**

When Laurel woke up on the morning of September the 1st, it was to a dark and stormy sky, with rain belting down. Getting changed quickly into jeans and a casual top and a jumper, Laurel went down stairs to see who was up. She could see that Hermione had already left their room, while Ginny was still sleeping, despite all the noise of the rain against the window.

Piper, seeing her awake, fluttered over and landed on her shoulder, Laurel barely felt the extra weight. It had only been a couple of days since they had visited the Magical Menagerie, but already Piper was flying as if she hadn't only hatched four weeks earlier. The little bird only ever got tired now if she flew for more than a couple of hours a day.

As she came into the kitchen, she found Hermione and Mrs. Weasley already at the kitchen table, both reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning," Laurel greeted, sitting down at the table.

"Morning dear, are you all packed and ready to leave", Mrs. Weasley asked kindly, looking up from her paper.

"Yes Mrs. Weasley. Everything's ready to go," Laurel replied.

"Morning Laurel," Hermione said, putting her paper down.

Hermione and Laurel spent a good 30 minutes talking excitedly about going back to Hogwarts for their fourth year before they heard shouting coming from the living room. Mrs. Weasley took her eyes away from stove.

"What was that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It's coming from the living room", Laurel supplied. They all got up to investigate, curious as to what or who was making so much noise at this early hour. As they entered, Laurel saw a head in the flames of the fireplace, someone was fire calling.

"Ah Molly, finally, I was hoping you'd be up. I need Arthur, urgently", the person said.

"Of course, just a moment", Mrs. Weasley said as she hurried to the bottom of the staircase.

"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"

Mr. Weasley came clattering past with his robes on back-to-front and hurtled out of sight. Laurel and Hermione giggled at the sight, just as Harry and Ron came down the stairs, wondering what was doing on.

Leaving Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to sort out the issue, Laurel went back into the kitchen and made sure nothing was burning, while curiously listening to the conversation.

"...Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there -" Amos was saying quickly.

"Here!" said Mrs. Weasley as she rushed out of the kitchen again carrying a piece of parchment, a ink bottle and a quill and handed them over to Mr. Weasley.

"- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off - if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur -"

"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."

"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up -"

Mr. Weasley groaned.

"And what about the intruder?"

"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it - think of his record - we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department - what are exploding dustbins worth?"

"Might be a caution," said Mr. Weasley. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"

"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," said Mr. Diggory, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."

"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said. Laurel watched as he dashed into the kitchen.

Mr. Weasley hurriedly said goodbye to everyone, wishing them all a good time at Hogwarts, and a few minutes later, was dressed and off.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

As they arrived at platform nine and three quarters, Laurel took in the sight of the magnificent train. The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine was there like usual, with children and family members all milling around and saying goodbye through the mist from the stormy weather.

Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in response to the hooting of many owls as well as from being in a new environment. He kept trying to fly in his cage, but kept on smacking into the metal.

Laurel had Piper happily on her shoulder, her favourite spot to occupy and was humming softly so that only she could hear her. Laurel was pleasantly surprised that Piper was acting so well, and had been worried about her flying off in all the excitement. Laurel didn't own a cage as well, and couldn't bear the thought of putting Piper in one.

"Can't you keep quiet Ron," Fred complained as the owl happily hooted ever louder.

"I've tried, he's just excited", Ron said defensively.

"Pig is still a young owl after all, he'll mature hopefully and quieten down", Laurel added.

Harry, Laurel, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and surprisingly Laurels mother.

"Mom, I didn't know you were coming", Laurel said excitedly as she hugged her mother.

"I couldn't miss seeing my daughter off to school. What kind of mother would I be," her mother replied. Laurel introduced her mother to Piper while everyone else said their goodbyes.

"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye.

"Why?" said Fred keenly.

"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it...it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.

"Why?" said George impatiently.

Seeing all the arguing, Laurels mother whispered in her hear, "Don't tell the others, but remember your favourite story book when you were younger".

Laurel looked at her mother is confusion. What did it have to do with what the Weasley's were talking about? And then it hit her. Her favourite story book as a kid was about the Triwizard tournament, the most daring and dangerous type of game there was in the wizarding world.

Laurel looked at her mother excitedly, "really, she said, looking at her mother in astonishment and excitement. Nodding, Laurel was about to start jumping up and down before remembering that it was a secret and so she calmly took a breath of air and smiled at her mother secretly.

"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."

"A bit of what?" said Ron in annoyance.

But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.

"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Weasley", Laurel said.

"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but...well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with...one thing and another."

Laurel stayed silent. She didn't want to let on yet that she knew what all the fuss was about.

"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What aren't you telling us?"

"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting - mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"

"What rules?" said Harry, Ron, Fred, and George together.

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you...Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?" Molly questioned.

Fred and George both nodded at their mother, before looked back at everyone and shaking their heads. Of course they wouldn't behave.

The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.

"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"

Mrs. Weasley waving, ignoring the question. Laurel moved away from the window along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and went back to their compartment, splitting up from the Weasley twins and Ginny, how went looking for her friends. The rain splattered against the windows on the compartment as they sat down. You could barely see out the windows, it was all just a grey blur to Laurel. She hoped it didn't interfere with the journey.

Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle the sounds of Pigs constant hooting.

"Ron, I really don't think that'll help", Laurel said, looking at the robes flung over the cage. Pig did seem to have quieted down a little, but that may have only been because of the rain hitting the windows which was pretty loud.

Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," he said grumpily, sitting down next to Harry. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what -"

"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Laurel and the others listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.

". . . Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defence rubbish we do. . . ."

Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.

"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" Laurel said angrily. "I wish he had gone, and then we wouldn't have to put up with him."

At hearing Malfoy, Piper fluttered up into an ever bigger puff ball, humming angrily as her beak open and closed, as if visualising her epic win against the wizard.

"I think Piper remembers Malfoy," Laurel said.

"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" said Harry.

"Yes," said Hermione sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."

"Yes, but I think it's got an awesome physical education system. I wish we had more classes like that", Laurel imputed.

"I think I've heard of it," said Ron vaguely. "Where is it? What country?"

"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows. "Er - why not?" said Harry.

"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Hermione matter-of-factly.

"Come off it," said Ron, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts - how are you going to hide a great big castle?"

"But Hogwarts is hidden," said Hermione, in surprise. "Everyone knows that.. . well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway." Laurel looked at Harry, perplexed at his question.

"Just you, then," said Ron.

"Hey! I've read it to", Laurel stated, annoyed. They should really pick it up one day. It was interesting.

. "So go on - how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"

"It's actually bewitched," Hermione explained. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."

"So Durmstrang will just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"

"Maybe," said Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"

"Come again?"

"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"

"Er. . . if you say so," said Harry.

"You two really need to pick up book that isn't about Quidditch", Laurel said in amusement.

"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."

"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Ron dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident... . Shame his mother likes him.."

"And if only you knew where the school was Ronald", Laurel said playfully as she shoved him.

"So can you guys keep a secret", Laurel asked casually, knowing full well that they could.

"Yeah..." Harry said curiously.

"You can't tell anyone, but I know what all that secretly was about before. My mother told me," Laurel said.

"Well go on then," Ron said eagerly.

"You'll never believe it. But Hogwarts in hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year!" Laurel said excitedly, relieved at telling them. Her mother knew full well that Laurel didn't have anything to hid from her friends, she didn't think there was any harm in telling them, plus Mrs. Weasley had said they'd all find out soon, it would be just a little sooner then she had thought.

"Really!" Hermione exclaimed, obviously she was the only once that realised how big this was.

"Mmm nnn", Laurel said nodding.

"Hang on, what?" Ron asked, while Harry shrugged his shoulders as well, both not understanding what the Triwizard Tournament was.

"It's where three schools get together, and one person from each of these schools is picked, each of these students must perform in different tasks, all of them highly dangerous. People have been killed before, and after that they disbanded the tournament. This is the first time in years that it's been allowed. I wonder why", Laurel mused.

"It's quit horrid really, the way it's made to test the participants. Exciting yes, but I'm sure they'll have put in safely measures to prevent anyone from dying. Why else would they have started it up again", Hermione said, thinking out loud.

"Yes, that must be it," Laurel agreed.

"I wonder if I'll be allowed to enter, can you image, me, the Hogwarts champion", Ron said, waving his hands around as if to wave to his fans.

"Maybe, who knows? There isn't an age restriction that I'm aware of. But they may have changed it this year. But from everything we'll all done already, a tournament seems like a piece of cake for you guys", Laurel said. Ron blushed at that, while Harry stayed quiet, thinking.

"No, I don't think I'd want to enter. I'd rather have just a normal year for once", Harry said at last.

"That's a good idea as well, more time to focus on your studies", Hermione said eagerly as she went through all her studying idea's for them all.

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Laurel and Harry bought a large amount of treat for everyone.

Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way.

After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm. Laurel joined her; there was only so much Quidditch talk she could take.

Laurel had a textbook sitting across from her, as did Hermione, and they were both trying to see who would summon theirs first. Hermione was usually better than Laurel at charms, while Laurel was the best in the year at transfiguration and potions. But they always helped the both if ever needed. After a while, Hermione finally got her book to move, it flopped lazily onto the ground, where it stayed.

"Its progress I suppose", Laurel said giggling at the book. Hermione huffed and returned the book back to the seat, where she said with even more force, "Accio textbook", and watched as it came flying into her arms.

"Yay, you did it", Laurel said, clapping softly at her friend.

"Now it's your turn Laurel", Hermione said. After another couple of minutes of trying, Laurel finally got her book to move, and after another attempts, she finally had it flying into her arms just like Hermione.

Just as they were finishing up, they had an unwelcome visitor.

Neville had joined them earlier, and Ron was telling him all about the Quidditch World Cup.

Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match. "Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville. . .

He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.

"Oh wow," said both Neville as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.

"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box -"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."

Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar. Laurel sighed, every year this had to happen. The boys couldn't just ignore Malfoy and carry on.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," said Harry coolly.

"Weasley. . . what is that?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the mouldy lace cuff very obvious.

Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.

"Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety. . ." Oh no Laurel thought. Why did he have to see the dress robes, the one embarrassing thing Ron had. That's it Laurel thought. I'm going to fix those robes and make them look at good as possible. Now what colour would suit Ron, black maybe, nothing that clashed with his hair.

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same colour as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.

"So. . . going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know. . . you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won. . . ."

"I'll do whatever I want Malfoy?" snapped Ron, a part of his angry dissipating as Ron knew what everyone was talking about. Obviously Malfoy's father had told him about it.

"Are you going to enter?' Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"They don't need to tell you anything," said Laurel testily, leaning into the seat where she was sitting as Piper flew around her protectively.

"Still got this thing I see. I'm surprised it hasn't been put down", Malfoy said, sneering at her, obviously annoyed at having no leverage on them, "Feral creature".

"Since you like Quidditch you'd think you would have some respect for snidgets Malfoy, your position was only created because of a snidget", Hermione said, defending her friend and Piper.

"As if I'd listen to anything you say Mudblood", thinking he had the last laugh, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.

Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.

"Ron!" said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "Reparo!" and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.

"Well.. . making it look like he knows everything when we know, and calling you that foul name.. . ." Ron snarled.

"And laughing at my dress robes", Ron muttered angrily.

"Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron -" Hermione started.

"Him! Get to me!? As if!" said Ron, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.

"Can you show me your Krum figurine again Ron," Neville asked quietly, hoping to break the tension. It didn't work.

Ron's bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. He didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.

As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. Laurel put Piper in the inside pocket of her robes, keeping her warm. Piper seemed to be thankful for the protection. Laurel didn't think Piper would survive if she was on her own. The weather was horrible.

The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.

"I'm soaked", Laurel complained, slipping into a puddle of water, soaking her shoes and feet even more, and turning them icy.

"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.

"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"

They all waved at Hagrid as went looking for the first years.

"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Laurel, Neville, Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Kind of a boring chapter, oh well, it'll start to get exciting soon. Thanks for reading!


	9. The Triwizard Tournament

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

I feel like I'm on a roll this week. I've actually had so much free time. No extra shifts at work or anything. Remember to review if you have any questions or ideas, I would love any suggestions on anything you'd like to see happen, if I like it I'll put it in.

I'd also like to point out that yes, the next couple of chapters will be mostly with the same story line as canon. I can't help it, everything I have planned won't be happening until the summer after the fourth year and on. So this isn't just going to be another OC story that steals other characters lines and doesn't add anything to the story. The story line is changing, just be patient. This year is just to get a feel for Laurel as a character and to develop certain things that will change the next book/summer.

I'd also like to thank my reviewers. Every review really makes me happy and I love hearing what you have to say.

Dzerx- Thank you so much for your reviews! I've already answered your questions but thanks again.

Michand – I'll hopefully have more Cedric and Laurel moments, I love them as friends, maybe it'll make Harry jealous

Redquail – Thanks, I love that you like how I'm writing the story from Laurels perspective. I think I'll get more from Laurels rather than Harry's, he wasn't the most observant wizard.

AliceMarie08 – Sorry about the chapters being too similar. I am progressing so that it changes more. The first couple will be pretty similar though. Bare with me!

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **The Triwizard Tournament**

Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive, the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Laurel looked out the window of the carriage as Hogwarts in all its glory. Lights were shinning from almost every window, creating a magnificent sight that contrasted with the dark gray of the castle walls. The rain made it harder to see, which wasn't helped by the dark gray stones, but it was still a great sight to behold. Laurel idly wondered how the first years were going; they might as well have swum to the castle with all the rain pouring down.

Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle, slipping as they went. Like everyone else, Laurel, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down quickly from their carriage, and raced up the front steps, focusing on only getting out of the rain.

Once they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase, Laurel noticed everyone else trying to dry off.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!"

A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Neville, it burst at Harry's feet. People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. Laurel looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.

Laurel sighed as another water balloon splashed next to her, soaking her already soaked shoes. There was no point in getting annoyed, she was already wet.

"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!" Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling, but not before shoving into Laurel accidentally, who fell over.

"Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger, Miss Flamel-"

"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.

"Ouch," Laurel said, groaning as she got back on her feet.

"Are you sure you're alright Miss Flamel?" Professor McGonagall asked in concern, scanning her over.

"I'm fine, just wet", Laurel replied, playing it off. Satisfied that her student was okay Professor McGonagall turned back to the issue at hand. Laurel rubbed her lower back, it was still hurting but was slowly going away, hopefully, it's be gone by the morning. Laurel thought for the second, maybe she should start looking up healing spells, that way she wouldn't have to go to the hospital wing, or when Harry was going something dangerous she could help him. Laurel still remembered the time Ron had needing healing from Sirius had attacked him, and only Professor Lupin had known a spell to wrap his leg up, nothing to actually heal the wound. Maybe it was something not a lot of witches and wizards studied since it was a hard branch of magic to learn. She'd have to look more into it at a later time.

"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.

"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.

"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -"

Peeves stuck out his tongue and aimed at the spot Laurel, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing.

"PEEVES DON'T I'm already wet enough!" Laurel shrieked covering her head with her arms. Peeves looked a little closer and smirked.

"Scared of a little water are weeeee," Peeves laughed before throwing the balloon right on top of Laurel's head.

With a cry of shock from the cold and from the annoyance of being soaking wet (again), Laurel shouted "Peeves!" as the Poltergeist laughed evilly.

Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely as he went.

"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"

Laurel was just taking her step towards the hall when she suddenly slipped on the wet floor, reaching out, she tried to catch herself on the staircase, but her hand seemed to have missed the railing, and she fell down backward, hitting her head with a dull thud as she went. It hurt, really badly. She groaned out in pain as hands grabbed her arms and pulled her back up.

"Owwww," Laurel groaned, blinking as she massaged the tender spot on the back of her head, where a lump was already forming. Taking her hand away from her head, she noticed blood on her fingers. Hitting your head on marble flooring hurt.

"Laurel! Are you alright", Hermione asked, in concern as she noticed the blood. Harry and Ron were standing on either side of her, obviously, they were the ones to pull her back up.

"Miss Flamel, what happened", Professor McGonagall came slipping back over at seeing Laurel with blood on her hands, "You'll go to the hospital wing immediately. Hold on a moment I'll get Poppy, she'll be in the hall already".

Laurel walked over to the staircase and sat down, it seemed like the best place to me.

"Are you seriously okay? You look really pale," Harry said, looking at her in worry as he sat down beside her.

"I'm fine, just embarrassed," Laurel muttered, not looking up as she heard rather than soon people coming past to get into the great hall.

"Only you could slip and cause a sense," Ron joked.

"Ron! It was an accident, don't make her feel worse", Hermione said tensely. Laurel felt blood trickling down her neck and grimaced at the feeling, gross.

Just as quickly as she'd left, Professor McGonagall was with Madame Pomfrey in tow.

"Move along now Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger, Ms. Flamel will be fine", Professor McGonagall said hurriedly as she tried to get order back.

"Now let's move you away from the hallway where the first years will be coming," Madame Pomfrey said. Laurel got up and followed her into a small room away from the great hall.

Laurel sat down on a chair and watched as Madame Pomfrey inspected her head and tutted.

"Well you certainly gave yourself quite a bit of damage," the nurse muttered, "I'll have to take you back to the hospital wing to treat you."

"Oh no please, can't you just heal me now so that we can go back to the feast, it's just a flesh wound," Laurel said quickly, not wanting to cause more drama.

Madame Pomfrey frowned as her and considered her proposal.

"Well, it isn't too serious, and I can watch you during the feast, but any pain or dizziness you come see me instantly".

"Okay," Laurel nodded quickly, agreeing. Laurel observed the nurse as she cleaned the wound, and then cast a spell that must have stopped the bleeding, then casting a healing spell to close the wound up. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't the greatest feeling, as she felt it all heal. It took a while, Madam Pomfrey kept casting spells and making sure she was completely fine.

"Did you also hit your lower back when you fell Ms. Flamel?"

"Um no, I fell down before that when Professor McGonagall slipped and knocked into me by accident, but its not that bad", Laurel explained.

"Well I'll go ahead and heal that too, otherwise you'd have a bruise tomorrow".

"Now, we'll wait ten minutes just to see if you have any side effects, but all your scans came back clear. You're lucky, any harder and you would have fractured your skull and would have to spend weeks recovering", the fussy nurse said.

Suddenly, Laurel shot up, searching her pockets.

"Are you all right," Madam Pomfrey said in concern.

"I forgot, where's Piper?" Laurel said, looking around.

"Piper? Ms. Flamel," the nurse asked in confusion and a little concern.

"My pet snidget! She was in my pocket when I fell", Laurel frantically searched around, hoping to spot her.

"Oh, I did see something flying around before I shut the door", Madam Pomfrey said casually.

Racing to the door, Laurel opened it and called, "Piper", and looked around. A moment later, a frightened and angry snidget came flying towards her, humming as she flew in front of Laurels face.

"I'm sorry we left you it was an accident, Madam Pomfrey didn't know you were with me", Laurel explained, trying to calm her down.

"This is Piper", the nurse asked, coming up to get a better look at the snidget.

"A very angry and annoyed Piper," Laurel stated. Piper, seeing that Madam Pomfrey wanted to look at her, fluttered over in front of the nurse, humming and chirping at the new person. She seemed to have gotten over her earlier fright.

"How rare, where ever did you find a snidget?"

"In the forest outside my house, I found her as an egg, and raised her myself," Laurel said proudly.

"Delightful, she's such a unique pet", the nurse said as Piper flew back to Laurel.

"Yes, I'm lucky I found her", Laurel smiled.

"Now, have you had any dizziness or nausea, no black spots in your vision or any pain", the nurse asked, getting back into her professional role.

"No, I'm completely fine", Laurel replied. Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes and looked her up and down.

"Well okay then, we'll go back to the feast".

The first years were already inside when they walked in, waiting their turn to be sorted. As Laurel came in with Madam Pomfrey quietly, only a few people noticed their arrival and looked at them. Laurel walked over to the Gryffindor table where she sat down with her friends, waving to the nurse as she went to the head table with all the other staff members.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked quietly as someone got sorted into Hufflepuff.

"I'm fine, really guys. Just a bad fall, Madam Pomfrey cleared me, healed my head in seconds", Laurel told them.

"Then how come it took so long for you to come back?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you know Pomfrey, she wanted to make sure everything was fine and made me wait to see if I'd have any problems".

"That's good then, you only missed the sorting hat's song and a few first years being sorted", Hermione said.

"Yeah, glad it wasn't serious", Ron muttered.

As Laurel took in the Great Hall for the first time, she noticed Great Hall was its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here.

Laurel was still damp from the rain, and took out her wand her pocket and cast a drying charm on herself and signed in relief as finally being dry. Her hair frizzed out a little, and she combed it through her hands, hoping to tame it. She didn't like to cast a drying charm on her hair, it always frizzed it out.

"How'd you do that?" Ron asked.

"Magic", Laurel replied, lifting one eyebrow in sarcasm.

"Bugger off, I mean can you help me out a little, please", Ron asked as he looked at her pitifully.

"Why of course, all you had to do was ask", Laurel said playfully as she cast the charm on him and then Harry, who also asked nicely. Hermione was currently casting the charm on herself, knowing it already, but had forgotten about the useful spell until Laurel had used it. The boys really should practice more.

It was funny everyone seeing Harry for the first time since last year, at least those that hadn't come to his birthday party. Students were doing double takes when they first saw him, thinking he was a new student before seeing the scar on his forehead and realizing it was indeed Harry Potter. Laurel laughed to herself as she heard Pavarti telling Lavender 'what a stud' Harry was now and debating on which one would get to ask him out first. At that last sentence Laurel frowned, she didn't like the idea of one of them asking Harry out. She looked at Harry, he hadn't noticed all the attention he was getting, or at least was pretending he didn't notice. She couldn't see him going out with either of them and then blushed as she realized why.

Hermione nudged her, breaking her thought.

"You in there Laurel", Hermione said, looking at her funny.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, was just thinking", Laurel replied, shaking her head as if to get rid of her thoughts. Piper was still in her pocket at this point but fluttered down onto the table.

"Hey what's that?" Lavender asked, looking at Piper, "It's so cute Laurel, is it yours?"

"Yes, this is Piper, a snidget. I found her as an egg during the summer and raised her", Laurel explained, petting Piper softly.

"Can I pet her?" Pavarti asked. Laurel wanted to say no, but thought against it. She would be sharing a room with Pavarti and Lavender and didn't want them to complain about Piper living with them.

"Sure, if she lets you, just be gentle", Laurel replied. Piper seemed to have no problem with the two girls cooing over her, she fluttered around the girls after they finished their fawning and flew back onto Laurel's shoulder, nesting in her hair. Piper was almost camouflaged with them being almost the same color, though Laurel's hair was a little lighter than the brilliant gold of the snidgets.

They all watched as each new student was sorted, with Ron complaining the whole time about being hungry; Laurel rolled her eyes at this. They'd eaten not two hours ago on the train.

Fred and George had also been hissing and making rude comments at the students placed in Slytherins. Laurel glared at them, they noticed her after a moment, caught her eye and stopped after that. Laurel didn't understand all this house rivalry, sure, in a Quidditch match it was fine, but to pick on first-year students that have only been here for less than twenty-four hours was just bullying. She knew the rivalry went pretty deep between the two houses but not all Slytherins were bad, cunning and ambition didn't make someone evil, just as courage and bravery didn't make someone good.

Laurel went back to watching the sorting. On and on it went, excited children, going to their houses where they'd spend the next seven years. Laurel hadn't missed much it seemed.

And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.

"About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."

"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates.

"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato. Laurel scoffed at his behavior as she ate her pie.

"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."

"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak.

"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast - well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council - the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance - but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."

"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. "So what did he do in the kitchens?"

"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits -"

Clang.

Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention.

"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning...see to the fires and so on...I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"

Hermione stared at him.

"But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And - and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"

Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.

"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"

Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.

"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. "Oops - sorry, 'Arry -" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"

"Slave labor," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labor."

And she refused to eat another bite.

Laurel looked worryingly at her friend. She's didn't know if it was a good idea to point out her family had house elves and decided to keep that to herself for now.

"Hermione", Laurel said slowly, "you know house elves want to work, it's what they love doing".

"It's all they know Laurel! How can you say that", Hermione argued.

Oh no. Hermione was getting riled up.

"Why don't you, before you make up your mind, gather some information. You don't know that much about our culture Hermione, and I'm not saying that everything about our way it correct, but before you go off on this, think about it, and find out what you can before you make assumptions", Laurel said carefully.

Thinking for a moment, Hermione looked down before meeting Laurels eyes, "okay, but once I have more information, I'll still feel the same way".

"That's all I ask", Laurel said.

As the feast went on, the rain continued, but no one really paid it much attention, to focused on the food around them and their friends.

Laurel was still trying to get Hermione to eat, starving herself wasn't going to solve any problems.

"Hermione come on. Everything's already cooked, you not eating won't change a culture's beliefs in a night", Laurel said getting annoyed at the stubbornness of her friend. Meanwhile, Ron was using his own tactics to get Hermione to eat.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"

But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.

When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices"

Laurel paid no attention to the list of banned objects, it didn't take a genius to realize what you couldn't have.

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below the third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What?" Harry gasped. Laurel jumped, startled but Harry shouting. Everyone seemed to be shocked. It was understandable, what with the Triwizard Tournament happening.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

Laurel turned around, as did everyone else, a man stood in the doorway and walked slowly over to the teachers table. Each step he took could be heard with a dull clunk as the strange man made his way past the house tables.

As he reached Dumbledore, a flash of lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the man's face. Laurel gasped in shock. He looked like he's been mauled by something. A large chunk of his nose was missing, along with a huge scar that crossed his face. But his eyes were the most startling thing to Laurel. One of them was normal, while the other was replaced with what looked like a glass eye, blue in colour, which moved unnaturally in his eye socket, rolling into the back of his head and then back to the front again.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. So that was who the spare chair was for. Mystery solved.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.

"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his face?"

"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.

"It must have been horrible though, whatever it was that did that to him", Laurel said, staring at the man.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

As Dumbledore explained the rules and gave an explanation as to what the Triwizard Tournament entailed, Laurel looked around. Everyone was chatting excitedly in whispers.  
"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. Whispering could be heard all throughout the hall as everyone chatted about entering.

At the statement that only student aged 17 and over would be allowed to enter, the hall erupted in angry whispers as Dumbledore explained why. Fred and George looked up at Dumbledore in outrage.

"They can't do that!" said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"

"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons..."

"Come on," said Hermione, "we'll be the only ones left here if you don't move."

With that, they all got up and followed the rest of their house up to the dormitories. It was a slow progression as everyone was making their way house of the great hall.

"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" said Harry.

"Dunno," said Fred, "but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George..."

"Laurel..." George asked. Laurel looked up at him with suspicion.

"Would you be willing to make us the aging potion", Fred finished.

"Um... I don't know," Laurel said, unsure if she should help them, or risk them making it themselves and poisoning themselves.

"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron.

"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" said Fred shrewdly. "Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names. Plus Laurels the best at potion making, everyone says so."

"Laurel can't help you. She'll get into trouble, plus you heard Professor Dumbledore, there's no point" said Hermione heatedly as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase. Laurel didn't know if it was because they didn't ask her instead, or at the thought of breaking the rules.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Hermione on this one. There's just no point guys", Laurel said.

"And people have died!" Hermione said worriedly.

"Yeah," said Fred airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?"

"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Harry. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I s'pose they might want someone older...Dunno if we've learned enough..."

"I definitely haven't," came Neville's gloomy voice from behind Fred and George.

"I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor. I'll just have to try".

They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said as they approached.

"Balderdash," said George, "a prefect downstairs told me."

Laurel said goodbye to the males of the group, and she and Hermione went to the doorway to the girls' dormitory. Lavender and Pavarti weren't there yet as they opened the door that led to their shared rooms. Laurels belongings were beside her four poster bed like usual, the closest to the window, while Hermione's was next to hers, then Lavender and Pavarti's beds closest to the doors. The door to the right went into their bathroom; it was quite big and spacious for the four girls, with two separate bathtubs, both huge, four shower stalls, and then four mirrors and counter tops for all their stuff.

Laurel quickly got changed into her sleepwear, not caring that Hermione was doing the same thing. When you share a room with three other girls, there isn't much room for modesty.

In her comfortable while top and baggy blue shorts, they both got into their beds but didn't pull the curtains closed. They usually always stayed up each night away from the boys to talk by themselves.

"Hermione, you don't think Harry and Ron would try and enter do you?" Laurel said, rearranging her pillows into a more comfortable position.

Turning her head so that she was facing Laurel, Hermione looked up, "I'm not sure, Ron seemed really interested in the prize money. But I couldn't really see Harry trying. I think maybe he just wants a normal year for once", Hermione said insightfully.

"That makes sense, even though Ron says it'd be great, I don't think he'd actually go through with it. None of us really know enough to be any competition for the other champions, and they'd all have years of knowledge and experience on any one of us", Laurel responded.

"I know. It worries me that the Twins might actually get through. I know there pretty smart, but they're stronger together, with only one of them competing, it'd be a disadvantage for them both."

"I know, on one hand, I want to make the aging potion for them encase they blotch it, on the other, what if it works and one of them gets in. Dumbledore would be furious if he found out I was the one to help them."

"I'd stick to not making it Laurel. An aging potion isn't too difficult, and there isn't much that can go wrong with the brewing process. Just don't feel guilty for not helping, help shouldn't have even asked you in the first place", Hermione said sleepily, too tired to argue her point more.

"Thanks. Night Hermione", Laurel said, closing her curtains.

"Night", Hermione muttered as she closed her curtains as well. Piper was sleeping in her nest at Laurel bedside table and hummed at them in goodnight as well. Laurel vaguely heard the other girls coming inside but was already drifting off to sleep before she could say goodnight.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Thanks everyone for reading.


	10. A very Moody class

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Chapter 10! Can't believe its chapter 10 already, I feel like it was just yesterday I started this. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **A very Moody Class**

The next morning was the first day of classes, Laurel made sure she was up extra early, wanting to look good. She got dressed in her normal Gryffindor school robes and took extra care with her hair while Hermione rolled her eyes. She couldn't help it if she liked to look good every now and then. She braided her hair into a mermaid braid that finished down her back with strands framing her face. With a little perfume she was ready.

"Finally," Hermione commented.

"What? I wanted to look good for our first day back", Laurel said.

"Or look good for someone", Hermione said, rising her eyebrow.

"Hermione come on," Laurel said, blushing as she grabbed her book bag that was charmed feather light. Hermione said no more about it. The boys weren't up when they walked down to the common room, and not wanting to wait, went on ahead to breakfast.

By the time they got down, Hogwarts was slowly starting to stir, with students walking down from their common rooms and making their way to the Great Hall.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Professor McGonagall came up to them with their class schedules.

"Ms. Flamel, Ms. Granger, just check that these are in order and I'll finalise it", the teacher said, handing them their paper. Laurel looked it over. It read,

Monday

Herbology

Care of Magical Creatures

 _Lunch_

Arithmancy

Arithmancy

Tuesday

History of Magic

Herbology

 _Lunch_

Ancient Runes

Wednesday

Charms

Ancient Runes

Lunch

Care of Magical Creatures

Thursday

Transfiguration

Transfiguration

 _Lunch_

Defence Against the Dark Arts

Defence Against the Dark Arts

Friday

History of Magic

Charms

 _Lunch_

Potions

Potions

"Looks accurate to me", Laurel said.

"Same here Professor", Hermione said.

"Ah all good them," Professor McGonagall said, before walking over to other students.

They swapped their schedules and Laurel noticed they both had the exact same classes.

"Great we have everything together," Hermione said happily, handing Laurels paper back to her.

"Yep, just like every other year, expect I remember never actually doing Divination last year like you lot", Laurel said airily.

"You were luckily, I can't believe Harry and Ron are still taking that class, it's a load of rubbish really. I hope them serve breakfast soon", Hermione said, looking at the time.

"You that hungry?" Laurel asked.

"No, I want to eat quickly before going to the library. I have some research to do remember", Hermione said as she tapped her fingers on the table in impatience.

"So I see you've given up trying to starve yourself", Laurel said smugly.

"Yes, it just wasn't practical okay, there I said it", Hermione said hotly.

"I'm not saying it was the best idea, but I can't fault you for passion. You really believe in what you're saying", Laurel said gently.

Hermione looked up and smiled, "Thanks that means a lot Laurel".

Just then the boys sat down next to them.

"Morning", Harry said tiredly.

"Mornin everyone" Ron said with a yawn.

"Well good morning Harry, Ron, oh look breakfast", Laurel said as they table filled with food. Professor McGonagall came over with the boy's course schedules.

"Today's not bad...outside all morning," said Ron, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures...damn it, we're still with the Slytherins..."

"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned, looking down.

"You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy."

"You're eating again, I notice," said Ron, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too.

"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione haughtily.

"Yeah...and you were hungry," said Ron, grinning.

Laurel poured some honey into a small bowl for Piper as she popped onto the table, she didn't need help with being fed anymore, which was a relief for Laurel, she couldn't image having to go through those first few weeks with Piper as a hatchling while trying to study.

As the bell rang, they all headed off to Herbology.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

After Care of Magical Creatures, Laurel, Hermione, Harry and Ron walked back up to the Great Hall for lunch, where Hermione ate her food in record time, rushing before she ran off to the Library.

Once lunch was finished, Laurel walked to the next class, arithmancy, by herself. Arithmancy was the study of magical properties of numbers, including predicting the future with numbers and numerology. This was by far the most challenging class for Laurel, it was interesting, but you really had to pay attention and put in the effort with learning all the charts and numbers. Hermione was better at it then Laurel, maybe because of her muggle upbringing that focused on numbers and equations more that wizard society did. But it was still fascinating for Laurel, even if it still wasn't her best class.

As Laurel waited outside for Professor Vector to let them in, she noticed a lot less students than last year; many of them must have dropped the subject in light of something easier.

Just as they were being let in, Hermione came running over, out of breath as she took a seat next to Laurel.

"What took you so long?" Laurel asked.

"I lost track of time researching," Hermione whispered as Professor called the class into order.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

"Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly, as they caught up to Harry and Ron after class. "Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"

"Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily.

They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind them.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

Laurel turned around along with Ron, Harry and Hermione. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.

"What?" said Ron shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!

FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC  
It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."  
Malfoy looked up.

"Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.

Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:

Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene.

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron..."

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry, as he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"

Laurel looked on in worry; this wasn't going to end well.

Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away. Laurel was still watching, and before she could warn Harry or draw her own wand, Draco had already cast a spell, Laurel grabbed Harry and roughly pulled him out of the way, the spell barely missed him.

Several students screamed at as the spell exploded into the wall with a bang.

Just then, Professor Moody came limping over with his wand out, and without a second hesitation, wordlessly cast a spell directed at Malfoy. Laurel watched in shock, as before her eyes, Malfoy shrunk and turning into a pure white ferret.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry - at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.

"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.

"No," said Harry, "Laurel pulled me out of the way."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted. Laurel took a step back, scared at this display.

"Leave - what?" Harry said, bewildered.

"Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.

Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.

"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.

"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly.

Laurel looked on in shock, she looked around for anyone to help, and caught Professor McGonagall's eye as she came down the staircase. Laurel waved her over frantically as she turned back to Professor Moody hurting Malfoy. Everyone was laughing besides her and Hermione, as the ferret bounced up and down in the air, making painful squeaking noises.

"Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.

"Professor Moody!" said Professor McGonagall.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody.

"Teach - Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall wealdy. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock -"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.

Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy...You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son...you tell him that from me...Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape...Come on, you..."

And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, and then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry Laurel, and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."

Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates. Laurel didn't laugh.

"I don't think it was funny Ron! I teacher should never attack a student like that", Laurel said hotly as she glared at him.

"Oh shut up, you can't say it wasn't funny", Ron said mildly.

"He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," Hermione said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it -"

"Stop it guys! After all Malfoy's done to us" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"

Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again, Laurel glared at him.

"Hmph!" said Laurel.

"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching Hermione.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."

"But you told us Professor Vector -"

"It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred Weasley.

"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"

"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred.

"Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told Harry and Ron.

"Well after what I saw today, I'm seriously rethinking his ability to teach children", Laurel said darkly.

Everyone ignored her comments.

"What was it like?" said Harry eagerly.

Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.

"Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.

"He knows, man," said Lee.

"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.

"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.

"Doing what?" said Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.

"He's seen it all," said George.

"'Mazing," said Lee.

Getting annoyed, Laurel left without saying goodbye. No one noticed her going. She huffed in annoyance and decided to go join Hermione in the library. Start getting some studying done.

Most students were already inside the Hall when Laurel left. The library was located on the first floor, a short walk from the Great Hall. As Laurel was walking, she passed Malfoy, who was looking better than before, obviously on his way to get dinner. Unusually, his lackey's weren't with him for once.

"What are you looking at Flamel", Malfoy muttered darkly as he pasted.

Laurel stopped. She had to say something.

"Malfoy, I don't agree with what Moody did to you today. It wasn't right. I do hope he gets into trouble for what he did", Laurel said truthfully.

Malfoy looked at her in shock, confusion and suspicion.

"You're the only one, I saw everyone laughing. At me! And I'm the one with two weeks of detention with that joke of a teacher", Malfoy said scornfully.

Wishing the conversation was over and that she'd just ignored him, Laurel started to leave.

"You know, one day you'll regret being friends with Potter instead of me, you're a pure blood, it's unbecoming to associate with them", Malfoy said as he went back to his usual self.

"No, Malfoy", Laurel said as she looked back, "I'll never regret having them as friends".

With that, Laurel smiled sadly at Malfoy, and walked off. A little part of her felt pity for the boy. He was raised that way. Sometimes Laurel hated the pureblood culture that witches and wizards were raised in. It made no sense.

Laurel's walk to the library was uninterrupted after that. She quietly sat down next to Hermione, finding her at one of the tables in the library. There was no one else around, only the two of them. Madam Pince was getting dinner, so they could talk as loud as they wanted.

"Hey Hermione", Laurel said flatly.

"Oh Laurel. What are you doing here", Hermione asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Oh the boys were giving me a headache with all their Moody talk, so I decided to leave and get in some studying".

"Are you okay? You sound really distant", Hermione asked.

"Yeah I just had a weird conversation with Malfoy", Laurel replied.

"Malfoy" Hermione said in surprise. "Why were you talking to him"?

"I passed him on the way here, and he looked upset, so I told him I didn't think what Moody did was right".

"Well I can't say he didn't deserve it, but yes, a teacher shouldn't have done that to a student. And Malfoy was embarrassed in front of everyone; I wouldn't have wanted that to happen to me".

"I know. Harry and Ron thought it was so funny. But I just can't see it that way", Laurel said as she got up to go find out text books. It was pretty quiet between them after that, both of them studying.

Laurel looked up every spell that she deemed useful and in her notes book, wrote down the spell, pronunciation, what the spell did, the counter spell, wand movements, and relevance. It was a slow job, but she wanted a detailed list of spells to start practising casually outside of classes. Hermione did this as well and usually they compared spells and notes and added their own advice.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. That is, all but Laurel, she still hadn't gotten over what had happened the other day.

The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.

"Been in the -"

"Library." Harry finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats."

Laurel followed her friend to the front row and got out her note book, quill, and her copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.

Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.

"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."

They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited.

Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark curses".

"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.

"So...do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Laurels and Hermione's and surprisingly, Ron's. Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one...Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it.

Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.

Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody, Laurel and Hermione. Laurel was starting to think the rest of her year was very stupid. This wasn't very funny. Laurel remembered her mother talking about the darker times in history when Voldemort had first risen to power, and how people would be made to kill their own families, or take their own lives with this curse.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away almost instantly. Laurel shivered.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."

Ron gave an involuntary shudder.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.

"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.

Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hermione's hand flew into the air again, Laurel put her hand up slowly, and Neville's went up as well. Laurel was surprised, Neville was a shy boy, and never put his hand up unless in was in Herbology.

"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.

"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice.

Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.

"Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.

Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!"

The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretense, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible.

Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Laurel could tell that it was screaming inside from pain. Laurel, being an animal lover, gasped and put her hand over her mouth, watching in horror at what was happening.

Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently -

"Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly, but she wasn't looking at the spider, she was looking at Neville in alarm. Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, and his eyes wide and horrified.

Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.

"Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse...That one was very popular once too".

"Right...anyone know any others?"

Laurel knew the answer, but didn't put her hand up. She didn't like this class. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air.

"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.

Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron. Laurel would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't still upset at what she'd just seen. People really needed to pick up a book and study. It was common knowledge what the spell was. Laurel was starting to think that was her new catch phrase.

"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra...the Killing Curse."

He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface. Laurel knew what was about to happen, but couldn't look away, fascinated but also scared at what she was about to see.

Moody raised his wand, "Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air - instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead.

Laurel made a small squeaking sound in fright while Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.

Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.

"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Laurel looked at Harry; he was staring straight ahead at the black board as if he was trying not to see everyone looking at him.

Laurel didn't pay attention after that, still reeling from the class. When the bell finally rang everyone got up as fast as they could to leave.

As they were walking down, Laurel noticed Neville standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. Laurel just realised Neville didn't have many friends, everyone was walking past him. Laurel almost started crying.

Hermione noticed as well.

"Hurry us", she called to Ron and Harry.

"Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron.

"No," said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Neville".

Laurel walked over with her friends.

"Neville?" Hermione said gently.

"Are you okay?" Laurel asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Neville looked around.

"Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Neville, are you all right?" said Hermione.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"

"Neville, what -?"

But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All five of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on...we can have a cup of tea..."

Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry.

"You all right, are you, Potter?"

"Yes," said Harry, almost defiantly.

Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending...well...come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron, Laurel, and Hermione, but they didn't say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, one of Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.

"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.

"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Harry as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right -"

"Ron," Laurel said softly, stopping him as she looked at Harry.

Laurel grabbed Harry's hand.

"Are you really okay Harry", she asked, looking at him carefully. Harry nodded, meeting her eyes.

The rest of the night went smoothing after that, though Laurel did send Harry some worried looks during dinner to see if he really was alright.

* * *

 **Authors note**

So I really liked having Laurel defend Malfoy, even a little. Yes, Draco is a little shit, but you have to feel sorry for him. He can never get on top of Harry in any way. And the pressure from his father and being raised the way he was. And he turned out alright in the end. So I'll give him that. Maybe he just needs someone to be nice to him.


	11. Anticipated Arrival

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Another chapter done. Yay me. Took me all afternoon. Hope you like it. I thought some of it funny. And there's a little part that doesn't make sense yet, but wait and you'll see why I put it up, you'll find out in a couple of chapters.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Anticipated arrival**

As Laurel walked back into the Gryffindor common room later that night after studying with Hermione, she noticed Neville, sitting alone, reading. Deciding to see how he was, Laurel walked over to him.

"Hey Neville, how's it going", Laurel asked as she sat down next to him. Laurel wouldn't say they were good friends, she helped him from time to time in potions and he was always kind enough to help her in Herbology whenever she was struggling.

Looking up, Neville said, "oh hey Laurel, didn't see you there, I was just studying. Professor Moody gave me this really interesting book, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. I've been reading it all night. Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology. He thought I'd like this."

Laurel looked at him in surprise. He sounded like his normal self, Moody must have really helped Neville. Laurel had to give the Professor some brownie points.

"Water plants. Would you mind if I borrowed it once you're finished. I've been meaning to get some more studying in more Herbology, I'm not the best at it", Laurel said.

"Sure, Moody said I could keep it. But if you wanted, you could come down with me in the mornings, Professor Sprout lets me come in a couple of times a week to help in the morning for extra credit. I could ask her ifs that okay," Neville said excitedly. Laurel smiled. It must be sad, not having many people to share in something you're passionate about.

"Sure. That would be great actually. I'm really behind in the practical side of it", Laurel said.

"If you wanted as well, I could help you out in potions more often in return. There's a student potions room that many people don't know about in the dungeons, and anyone can use it for practise", Laurel said. Neville was horrible in potions, mostly because Professor Snape scared him and he couldn't concentrate in the class, maybe if he practiced the potions first before they did them in class, he wouldn't be so nervous.

"I don't know, I don't think anything will help", Neville said sadly.

"Come on, it's can't hurt to try. Potions aren't as hard as you think. You just follow the instructions. It really helps if you read the textbook beforehand that way you're familiar will what to do. It'll be practise for me to", Laurel said firmly.

"Okay, if you insist", Neville said shyly.

"Good, let's say tomorrow morning before breakfast? I'll meet you here at 6 o'clock", Laurel said.

"Deal, and I'll let you know once I see Professor Sprout if you can come help out", Neville said.

"Great", Laurel said excitedly. Laurel looked around and spotted Harry and Ron at a table, looking like they were studying, "Well I'll see you tomorrow".

Laurel got up and walked over to the boys. They didn't notice her as she stood behind them and listened to what they were saying.

"You know," said Ron, "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."

"What - make it up?"Harry said. Laurel sighed, Ron was a horrible study partner.

"Yeah," said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and starting to write.

"Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." He looked up at Harry. "You know her - just put in loads of misery, she'll lap it up."

"Are you boys really just going to make everything up", Laurel said as she crossed her arms. The boys jumped at her voice and turned around.

"What's it to you. I can't make sense of this rubbish", Ron said, while Harry as least had the decently to look down.

"Why are you in divination if you don't like it?" Laurel said, looking at Harry.

"Well, um..." Ron said.

"It's an easy subject", Harry said.

"But what's the point if you get nothing out of it. If you did ancient runes or arithmancy, you couldn't actually get a career out of it, like your brother Bill", Laurel argued. She was starting to sound like Hermione, Laurel thought. Harry looked at her thoughtfully, at least was starting to get it.

"I never thought of it that was", Harry muttered as he ran a hand through his always messy hair.

"But those classes are hard work", Ron said, trying to explain his reasoning.

"So is life Ron", Laurel said.

"If I were you, I'd be talking to Professor McGonagall about transferring to another class or having a free period to study", Laurel said.

"That's actually a good idea", Harry said, looking at his homework. "You'd think she'd let me?"

"I honestly don't know Harry. But its worth trying, even if you get turned down".

"I'll think about it. It would be nice not to get told I'm going to die in every class," Harry said.

"Who will I sit with them if you leave", Ron said.

"Honestly is that all you care about. You should be seeing if you can get out of the class as well Ron, send a letter to Bill and ask him what he thinks" Laurel said in annoyance before flouncing off.

Just as Ron was finishing up his assignment, the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in the other.

"Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"

"So have I!" said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill.

Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions toward her.

"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.

"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned.

"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.

"Oh am I?" said Ron, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."

"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.

"How dare you!" said Ron, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"It's just an expression," said Ron hastily.

Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation.

"What's in the box?" Harry asked, pointing at it.

"Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the contents. Laurel, who knew what was in there already, sighed.

Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but all bearing the same letters: S. P. E .W.

"Spew?" said Harry, picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"

"Not spew," said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Never heard of it," said Ron.

"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."

"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"

"Well - if you three join - four," said Hermione. Laurel looked away, she didn't know if she could join in reality, she had elf houses in her home, I don't think that's what Hermione wanted from a member. There was no way around it, she'd just have to tell Hermione the truth.

"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.

"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."

She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them.

"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."

"Hermione - open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"

"Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."

"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.

"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting. And Laurel, you'll be operations manager, and I'll be the general manager.

Before anyone could answer, there was a tapping at the window and Harry shouted, "Hedwig!"

While Harry read the letter from Sirius, Laurel pulled Hermione aside.

"Hermione I have to tell you something", Laurel said uncomfortably.

Hermione looked at her, "What's wrong".

Laurel grimaced, dreading Hermione's reaction. "Well I never mentioned it, but um...you see, my family own house elves and well, I don't know if I can join S.P.E.W.".

Laurel watched as Hermione processed what she said, "What! And you never told me".

"Well, I didn't think you'd actually do this. But my family don't treat the elves badly, not like Dobby was. They love working for us. You could even meet them and see", Laurel said in defence.

"I can't believe it. Your family hired slaves to do your cooking and cleaning. I can't believe it. I thought Hogwarts was bad enough", Hermione said angrily.

"Hermione! It's not like I had a say in it. It's how my family were brought up. It's wizarding culture. You can't get up me for something heaps of families do just because you think it's wrong", Laurel said hotly.

Suddenly, Hermione stopped and sat down, thinking.

"This is great! You'll be the first pure blood family that will hold up our aims and ambitions, you could be the promotional story that can convince other families to do the same", Hermione said excitedly. Laurel looked at her, flabbergasted.

"I don't know, Hermione. You've never really talked to any elf houses, if my mother told them about getting paid then they'd probably start crying".

"No, don't you see. If we can convince your house elves and mother, then it'll work. It has to".

"Um, I guess. But you're the one that's going to have to convince my mother", Laurel said, giving up.

"Thank you. I'll write a letter and have a draft make up. This is all happening so quickly", Hermione said happily before getting started. There was no talking to her now Laurel thought. But maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Laurel thought about all the elves that were mistreated, Dobby for one, and then Winky. They deserved rights. But this was going to be a huge change for wizarding kind if Hermione went through with it. It would take years. Laurel didn't know if Hermione realised what she was getting herself into. Wizards weren't accustomed to change, not like the muggle world. It was like a different world altogether.

Laurel sighed before picking her transfiguration textbook up and started studying.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Later the night, Laurel was dreaming in her bed, about Piper becoming a giant snidget and Laurel riding her through the Quidditch field as Harry and Cedric tried to catch them and win 150 points for their team, when suddenly, she fell off Piper, and landed with a thud.

Laurel woke in a start and lifted her head. With a thud, she hit something hard and cried out. What was going on she thought to herself? She felt around, and realised she was under her bed. She crawled out her back and got up, pulling the curtain away from her bed. How did she get under there? Her sheets weren't tussled at all. Weird. Maybe this was all a dream, Laurel thought as she got back into bed. She could hear the soft breathing of the other girls around her, and no one had woken up from her fall.

Tired, Laurel went back to sleep and didn't think anything of it the next day.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next couple of weeks went by fast; Laurel met up with Neville twice a week to tutor him in potions. He still wasn't making any progress in class, but he was slowly starting to gain confidence when he was working with her. In their first meeting, Neville managed to burn a hole in two caldrons, before Laurel decided to take him back to the basics and teach him how to cut the ingredients correctly, how to stir in different ways, and why you stirred clock wise and counter clock wise. She then went on to demonstrate each potion first, so that he could watch her she see what is she. When she finally let him make a potion for the first time, they were both delighted when it almost came out perfect. The colour, a deep purple, was a little off, for they were looking for a dark shade of lavender, but it was the first potion he'd made by himself.

Neville got permission for Laurel to come down once a week and help out in the green houses. It was dirty work, but she had never shied away from hard work and dove in, before having to run back to the common room for a shower before breakfast.

Laurel noticed that the all the Professors had been increasing in the work they were required to do. Each class seems to be pushing them more and more, and giving then extra homework. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.

"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer -"

"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.

"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Flamel and Miss Granger remains to be the only students in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"

Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself. While Laurel smiled at Professor McGonagall, this was her favourite class after all. Laurel seemed to have a knack for transfiguration, and didn't struggle at all with every assignment. She still had to work hard, but compared to everyone else, even Hermione, she had a talent for it.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

One afternoon they were all walking down for dinner. When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed due to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. When they finally got to the front, Laurel read the sign.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"How exciting", Laurel said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they finally got into the Great Hall.

"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

"You know, if you brewed the potion correctly you wouldn't be so worried", Laurel sung as she rolled her eyes at Hermione.

On the thirtieth of October, Laurel, like everyone, was extremely excited for the other schools to arrive. Nobody was really paying attention at all that day that is, bare Laurel and Hermione.

When the bell rang early, Laurel, Hermione, Harry, and Ron hurried back to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall. Laurel quickly checked herself in the mirror before leaving, her thick golden hair was in a high pony tail, and she had to say she looked especially pretty today.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front...no pushing..."

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry, standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.

"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

"I doubt it," said Hermione.

"They must have some sort of transport. There are many ways to travel in the wizarding world", Laurel commented.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.

"I don't think so...not from that far away..."

"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently. Laurel giggled.

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions. Laurel looked around, trying to see what Dumbledore had spotted.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

There was something in the sky, coming this way. Laurel couldn't make it out.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid...it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. Laurel had never seen Abraxan's in person, they were beautiful horses, and she hoped it'd get to see them more closely at some point.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

The carriage door opened, and out came a boy in pale blue robes, who jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps.

He sprang back respectfully. And a large woman stepped out gracefully. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

A dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."

"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning.

"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong..."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron, Hermione and Laurel.

"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Harry. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"

"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully.

"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds..."

Laurel, who detested the skrewts, hoped that they'll accidentally been poisoned, they were horrible creatures; they didn't seem to have any purpose.

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then -

"Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly.

Laure listened, her head tilting to the side; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed...

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks -and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor...

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool.

"It's a mast!" Harry said excitedly. Laurel didn't know what that was.

Slowly, magnificently, a ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. Laurel pointed excitedly to Hermione.

"Dumbledore!" a man called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling;

"How good it is to be here, how good...Viktor, come along, into the warmth...you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students.

"Harry - it's Krum!" Laurel turned back to the boy, and realised they were right. Laurel didn't care to much though, Quidditch really just wasn't her thing.

As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Laurel saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - "Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me -"

"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

"Really," Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick. And Laurel snorted.

I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!"

"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.

They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

"It's not that cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"

"It's probably warmer in France Hermione, there've probably not used to it being this cold", Laurel said. She was a little shocked at how negative Hermione seemed to be around the Beauxbaton girls.

"Over here! Come and sit over here!" Ron hissed. "Over here! Hermione, budge up, make a space -"

"What?"

"Ron! That's rude", Laurel said sternly.

"Too late," said Ron bitterly.

When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

As the tables filled with food, Laurel was surprised to see a wider variety of foods, many of which that looked foreign.

"What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.

"Bless you," said Ron. Laurel started laughing.

"It's French," said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."

"Yes, it's delicious", Laurel added. She'd spend a lot of time over in France. Since her so many great grandfather went to Beauxbatons, Laurel had been on holiday there, and grew up learning French. She hadn't practised it in a while, what with no one to talk to in French unless her mother was around. Thinking of it made Laurel sad, since her grandmother and grandfather would always talk in French when they visited. It had been over two years since their passing, but Laurel still mourned for her family members.

"I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth. Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

Laurel smiled up at the girl in welcome and replied, "Oui, nous avons fini avec la bouillabaisse. Veuillez vous aider". (Yes we have finished with the bouillabaisse. Please, help yourselves).

The girl looked at her in surprise, "Êtes-vous Français". (Are you French)

Laurel shook her head, "Non, mon grand-père était et m'a appris". (No, my grandfather was and taught me).

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked on in surprise, as well as a few students.

"C'était sympa de te rencontrer. Je suis heureux qu'ils soient au moins un étudiant de Poudlard nous, les étudiants français peuvent vous parler. Il serait bon d'avoir quelqu'un qui parle français pour nous montrer. Voulez-vous si je demandais à ma directrice de direction", Fleur said excitedly. (It was nice meeting you. I'm glad theres at least one student from Hogwarts us French students can talk you. It would be nice having someone that speaks French to show us around. Would you mind if I asked my headmistress).

"Je suis Laurel Flamel," Laurel started.

"Flamel?" Fleur asked.

"Oui", Laurel said.

"Désolé, je viens juste d'entendre beaucoup parler de votre grand-père, Nicolas Flamel" Fleur said. (Sorry I've just heard so much about your grandfather, Nicolas Flamel).

"Oui, aussi longtemps qu'il est agréable avec votre directrice, alors ça devrait être bien avec ma tête de Gryffondor, la professeure McGonagall," Laurel finished. (yes, well as long as it's agreeable with your headmistress then it should be fine with my head of).

"Merci, j'espère vous voir bientôt", Fleur said as she took the bouillabaisse and left. (Thank you, I hope to see you soon then).

Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry started to laugh, along with Hermione. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.

"She's a veela!" he said hoarsely to Harry.

"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"

Laurel looked around, did seem like Fleur attracted a lot of male attention. If Laurel had to guess, she'd say Fleur had veela blood, but wasn't a full veela.

"What were you saying to that girl anyway?" Harry asked, "I didn't know you could speak French".

"Oh, she wanted to know if I would be willing to show them around Hogwarts. Most of them can't speak English, so Fleur was excited that there was a Hogwarts student around that they could talk to", Laurel explained.

"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

"They make them okay at Hogwarts," said Harry meet Laurel's eyes before he looked away in embarrassment.

Laurel blushed and looked at her food.

When you've both put your eyes back in," said Hermione briskly, "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."

She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.

"What are they doing here?" said Harry in surprise.

"They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket -"

"The what?" Harry muttered.

Ron shrugged.

"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough..."

"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know enough", Harry said slowly. Laurel was impressed. It seemed Harry was started to mature.

"Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.

"Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all got up to leave as well.

Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him.

And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind them.

Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster.

The color drained from Karkaroff's face. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.

Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.

"Let's go Harry," Hermione said as Laurel tugged on his sleeve.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Translating sucks. I don't think I'll do it again if Laurel interacts with the French students. I'll just say something like assume it's in French. I wanted to post this before I leave for work, so I hope there aren't many spelling errors. Thanks for reading!


	12. The Four Champions

**Author's Note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Another cute little chapter about Laurel and her friends. I'm trying to give you guys more material on her friendships with other students. In the books, Harry doesn't really spend much time with anyone but Hermione and Ron, so I like the idea of Laurel expanding and creating more friendships between houses and such.

Enjoy! And review.

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **The Four Champions**

The next morning Laurel was woken up by Hermione extra early. Laurel, who only slept in on weekends due to studying in the mornings and having classes, groaned in annoyance and rolled over.

"Laurel come on, get up, don't you want to watch people put their names in the cup", Hermione said excitedly.

"Nooooo," Laurel said through her pillow.

"I'm leaving without you then. Hurry up and get ready", Hermione huffed as she left.

Laurel contemplated going back to sleep, before she sighed and realised she didn't want to miss all the excitement. Throwing the sheets off her, Laurel got up finally and got ready. Since it was Saturday, she didn't need to wear her uniform, and so she went to her cupboard and searched through it was something to wear. She settled on a light blue cardigan and a lace white top with white jeans and boots. She did her hair quickly in a bun; put her wand in her wand holster and grabbed her bag and shoved a few books in it and homework in it in case they went to the library after.

As Laurel was walking down from the girl's dormitories she noticed Neville coming down from the boys dormitories.

"Hey Neville, going down to the Great Hall?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah, thought it was worth a look," Neville replied as he stumped down the last step.

"Want to walk together?"She said.

"Sure", Neville smiled.

"So who do you think will be Hogwarts champion?" Laurel asked.

"Um, I don't know. I heard everyone talking about Cedric from Hufflepuff".

"I think Cedric would be perfect," Laurel said, thinking back on the night he had helped her.

"Do you know Cedric," Neville asked, seeing the look in her eyes. Laurel blushed, looking down. She didn't really want to tell people about that night.

"Oh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to", Neville said as she stayed silent.

"No," Laurel said slowly, "it's not that, I just didn't want it spread around, it's kind of personal", Laurel said, not sure if personal was the right word for it.

"Okay, but just please don't tell anyone", Laurel said.

"I would never," Neville said passionately.

"Thank you Neville," Laurel smiled, "Okay, well remember the Quidditch world cup".

Neville nodded and she continued.

"Well, in all the chaos of the night, I was separated from everyone else. And I was searching for everyone until a heard a noise and a wizard was approaching me, and it just didn't feel right. He asked if I was lost and wanted to help me find them, but he was covered in dirt and I think he was drunk. And then Cedric found me and told him to leave, and the wizard attacked us and cast a spell, luckily Cedric put a shield up in time and knocked him out, but I was so grateful after that" Laurel said pensively.

"Wow, I didn't know Cedric was that good", Neville marvelled.

"Yes, it surprised me to. With all my reading and studying I used to think I could handle something like that, but I guess not", Laurel said sadly.

"Don't sell yourself short Laurel. You're the best at most of the practical aspects of every class. Everyone thinks your amazingly talented", Neville said boldly.

"Thanks Neville", Laurel said as they came to the entrance hall.

The entrance hall rang with laughter, and Laurel and Neville walked over in curiously. Fred and George seemed to be ones that everyone was laughing at, for they now displayed long white beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

Now that the excitement was over Laurel got a good look at the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast. Laurel caught up to them, along with Neville.

The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.

"There's a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Harry. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."

Harry shook his head in disgust.

"We can't have a Slytherin champion!"

"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."

"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly.

People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.

"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry.

"Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.

"I had my birthday last week," said Angelina.

"Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"

"Yes, good luck", Laurel added.

"Thanks, Hermione, Laurel," said Angelina, smiling at her.

"Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory", said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him.

"There's nothing wrong with Cedric being the champion, whoever's chosen will obviously be the best choice", Laurel said hotly.

"On a first name basis are you then", Seamus said, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Harry turned and looked at her. Laurel didn't know why, but she didn't want Harry to think she liked someone else.

"Oh grow up. Some of us can be friends with the opposite sex without being attracted to them", Laurel said as she turned her back on him.

"What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione when they had finished breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall.

After visiting Hagrid, Laurel and Hermione went off to the library to study. Hermione was working on her S.P.E.W campaign, while Laurel was working on her transfiguration assignment. It was Laurels best subject, and she wanted to make sure she kept her grades up. Professor McGonagall had said if she keeps them up, by sixth year she might even be able to take extra study sessions with her to become an Animagus. Laurel was so excited. She wanted to work ahead and try out some of the fifth year course work.

As she was reading through a old textbook she's found that had been assigned for transfiguration for the fifth years a couple of years ago, she heard someone walking this way and looked up.

"Hi, Cedric," Laurel said shyly, putting the book down. She still wasn't quite sure how to act around him, since that night.

"Hi, Laurel. I was passing through and noticed you here and wanted to say hi," Cedric said awkwardly as he ran a hand throw his hair.

"It's kind of awkward isn't it? I don't know how to act around you after everything", Laurel said truthfully. Cedric looked at her in surprise, whether from her honest answer or something else she didn't know.

"Why don't we just act like friends? I see your studying transfiguration; you're not a fifth year are you?" Cedric asked as he looked at her textbook.

"No, I'm studying ahead", Laurel said. "Professor McGonagall said I might be able to learn how to become an Animagus in my sixth year if I keep my grades up".

"You know, I'm pretty decent at transfiguration. Why don't I see if I can help", Cedric said kindly.

And with that, Cedric sat down and helped Laurel study. A while later Hermione came back to the table and started listening in, interested in what Cedric had to say. Laurel realised Cedric had been lying when he said he was decent at transfiguration, he was excellent at the subject.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Later that night, Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the candlelit Great Hall. The hall was almost full, with students talking excitedly to one another. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George - clean-shaven again and were taking their defeat pretty well.

"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as Harry, Laurel, Ron, and Hermione sat down.

"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days. Laurel picked at her food, to excited to eat much.

When the golden plates finally cleared themselves and returned to their original spotless state, Dumbledore rose to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting...A few people kept checking their watches...

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Laurel watched in excitement as Viktor Krum walked from the Slytherin table and slouched up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Laurel clapped for Fleur as she walked up to the front of the room and disappeared through the door.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms. Wow, Laurel thought, talk about an overreaction.

The Hogwarts champion was next. The hall seemed to be buzzing with even more excitement than before.

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Laurel screamed in excitement. Cedric was the Hogwarts champion! As he walked past her, he winked at her and Laurel waved.

Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him. Laurel looked at the Goblet of Fire in confusion. The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. What was going on, Laurel thought.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out -

"Harry Potter."

Laurel gasped in shock and fear as she turned to Harry. It seemed Harry was in shock as well. His expression was blank, like he didn't know how to react. Laurel felt rather than saw everyone else staring at Harry was well.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall. Laurel was confused. How could Harry be a champion when there were only three students chosen? Had the Goblet been faulty, had it made a mistake? And how had Harry's name been put in the Goblet in the first place. It made no sense. Looking at Harry, Laurel knew he was just as shocked, and realised he hadn't put it in. She thought back on the other day when he'd been asked if he'd consider entering and he had said no. Even Fred and George didn't get through the age line. Had Harry? No, Laurel thought. Harry couldn't have done it. Someone else must have done it.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to Laurel, Ron, and Hermione; beyond them.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

Laurel nodded at him, and he saw relief in his eyes at her small gesture, while Hermione and Ron just looked at him blankly, still shocked.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.

"It'll be alright Harry", Laurel said softly as he left. Laurel watched as Harry walked towards the staff table, there was total silence; no one made a move to stop Harry.

"Well...through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore, and then Harry was gone. Suddenly the hall filled with noise as all the students started talking, some were even yelling, booing at the staff table. No one stopped them, for the teachers were all still trying to process what happened.

"What do you think will happen?" Laurel asked, looking at Ron and Hermione.

"They can't let him compete, its ridicules, Harry doesn't know enough", Hermione said. Ron didn't say anything.

Just then, Dumbledore called for order.

"Now, since the champions have been selected, it's time to return to your houses. Good night", Dumbledore said hurriedly before he, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, Professor Snape, Ludo Bagman, Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime left to join the champions.

The twins started yelling at the Gryffindors, "Party in the common room! For our new champion!" And with that, the Gryffindors all started getting excited, realising that they had a champion from their house.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "honestly, they haven't even said that Harry's competing yet".

Laurel looked at Hermione, "Remember what Dumbledore said, the contract is binding. Harry might not have choice Hermione. He has to compete".

"No they can't," Hermione said, thinking before gasping as she realised that Harry would have to compete. They started to get up and leave, before realising Ron was already half way to the entrance hall.

"Ron, wait up," Hermione called, but he ignored them and kept on walking.

"I wonder what's wrong with him", Laurel mused. It seemed everyone was rushing back to the tower. Because of all the students walking to the tower, Laurel and Hermione took a short cut through a secret corridor that Fred and George had shown them in their first year. As they were walking, they didn't talk, both lost in their own thoughts.

When they got to the common room, everyone was in party mode. There was food and drinks of the tables, compliments of Fred and George, though Laurel didn't understand how they beat them to the common room.

"I wonder where Ron is." Hermione asked as she looked around.

"I think he went up to the dormitories", Ginny said, overhearing their conversation.

"Can you believe it? Harry a Hogwarts champion", Ginny was saying excitedly.

"Mmm, yes. It's a shock", Laurel muttered, "I might go see what's wrong with Ron". Laurel walked up to the boys four year rooms and entered.

"Ron", she called, noticing him sitting on his bed. He looked upset, and she thought maybe he was concerned about Harry.

"Are you okay?" Laurel asked as she walked up to him. She usually didn't come up here, it wasn't really against the rules but it was still frowned upon. She could see Ron wasn't very clean and orderly with his things, clothes and books were on the ground or thrown haphazardly in his trunk.

"I just can't believe it you know", Ron said bitterly.

"I know, I'm worried about Harry. I don't understand how this happened", Laurel said. Ron looked up at her in annoyance.

"I meant I can't believe its Harry again. It's always bloody Harry, every year. He didn't even tell me, his best friend that he had entered. I suppose he wanted all the glory for himself", Ron said, kicking one of his books.

"But Harry didn't enter. You heard him", Laurel said, looking at Ron in shock.

"Of course you'd take his side", Ron muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean. Of course, I believe him, he's our friend", Laurel said angrily.

"I'm not as stupid as you think. I see the way you two look at each other. It's pathetic, you don't do anything about it", Ron said spitefully. Laurel couldn't believe her ears. This was Ron, one of her best friends, acting like a total jerk.

"How dare you! You have no right Ron to say that! Have you ever known Harry to lie before? And how I feel has nothing to do with you", Laurel said infuriated.

"Yeah yeah, just go. I've had enough of Harry always being the centre of attention", Ron muttered before closing his curtains.

"Fine, come find me when you realise how stupid your being", Laurel said before leaving, slamming the door shut on her way out.

As she came back down, she found Hermione.

"What's wrong? Is Ron not feeling well", Hermione asked. Laurel huffed and shook her head angrily.

"No, he's being an idiot! I can't believe him. He thinks Harry put his name in the Goblet of Fire just for attention", Laurel answered.

"What? But he knows Harry wouldn't have done it", Hermione said.

"Apparently not," Laurel muttered before the crowd exploded into noise. Harry was walking inside before everyone started surrounding him, screaming, applauding and whistling.

You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.

"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.

"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how -"

But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -"

"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.

"We've got food, Harry, come and have some -"

"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast -"

But nobody seemed to be listening to Harry. Laurel caught his eye and motioned for him to come over. He detangled himself away from the crowd and came over.

Laurel looked him over. "Are you alright Harry?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I just need to get away from all this", Harry said, practically shouting at her with all the noise.

"Grab your cloak and the map and meet me outside the portrait", Laurel said quietly as she left. Hermione had already left to study in the quiet of their dormitories, so it was just Laurel. She waved at Neville as she left and went outside. It was quieter outside and Laurel sighed in relief. She couldn't image Harry wanting to stay in there as well.

Laurel wasn't usually one to break the school rules, but she thought given the situation, Harry needed some peace and quiet from all that. She was only waiting for a few minutes before Harry came out, muttering angrily to himself.

"So, I take it you saw Ron", Laurel asked in concern.

"I can't believe him. He thinks I did this to get attention", Harry shouted as he punched a wall. Harry cried out in pain, cradling his hand.

"Why'd you do that Harry," Laurel sighed, "Let me see it".

"It's fine, it's just a little blood", Harry muttered, wincing from the pain.

"Give it here Potter", Laurel said sternly as she took his inured hand. It wasn't too bad, nothing was broken by the looks of it.

Taking out her wand, she had read up on healing charms and spells, though she's never used one before.

"Healios", Laurel muttered, tapping her wand on just before the gashes. They both watched in fascination as the gash healed itself, leaving only the blood from the gash.

"Tergeo", she then muttered to clean up blood.

"Done", Laurel said, smiling to herself at her achievement.

"How'd you do that?" Harry asked as he examined his hand.

"I read Harry", Laurel said, rolling her eyes, "Come on then, let's go for a walk along the grounds".

So off they went. They both fit under the cloak, though they did have to stay close together. Every now and then they'd stop and check the map to make sure no one was around, just in case.

It took longer than normal, but finally they were outside. The main entrance was shut like usual, but there were many ways to get outside. There was a small door that led to a courtyard, they found the door unlocked and then jumped down from the open window like arch way onto the ground. Once they were outside they took the cloak off. They had checked the map and found no one ever came outside at night, thinking the students wouldn't reach the grounds. They didn't light there wands, just in case someone passed a window and saw them, so they walked in the dark, their only light the crescent moon.

They came to the edge of the lake and settled down under a tree. Harry lay down on the soft grass, and laurel used his shoulder as a pillow and lay down beside him.

"You know Harry. I believe you about not putting your name in the Goblet of Fire", Laurel said softly.

"Thanks, your about the only one", Harry sighed sadly.

"Hermione believes you as well you know".

"I wish Ron would. I don't want to be in this tournament. I wanted a normal year for once", Harry muttered angrily.

"I know", Laurel said, looking up at the sky, with all the stars in the sky it was a pretty sight. It was starting to get cold, Laurel shivered and Harry moved closer to her. Even with their thick jackets on and cloaks, it was still cold.

"I think you'll be great though Harry. You might not have learnt as much as the others, but you have Hermione and me and you have more experience in these types of situations than anyone I know. I'd be surprised if you didn't win", Laurel said truthfully.

"Really", Harry asked in surprise.

"Really," Laurel said, "You'll do great. We can start practicing tomorrow if you want. I'm sure Hermione's in as well. You'll show everyone else that you've just as good as them".

"Thanks. I'll take you up on that. Even that healing spell will come in handy".

"Yes, and duelling, we should practice offensive spells and defensive spells. Blocking and counter charms", Laurel said, thinking of all the spells Harry needed to learn, it was going to be a lot.

"You'll really have to focus Harry. You can't die in this tournament", Laurel said, upset at the thought of Harry dying.

"That's what Moody thinks. That someone put my name in to try and kill me", Harry said.

"Well then. We'll just have work extra hard to make sure that you're prepared Harry", Laurel said seriously.

"I know. It's going to be hard," Harry said. They were silent after that, both of them lost in thought. Laurel loved it out here; there was no one else around, only them. It was totally silent, bar the sound of an owl hooting in a tree occasionally or the sound of a splash every now and then from the lake.

In that moment, everything was peaceful. It was almost like a dream. Being outside after hours in the dark made it all the more exciting.

Laurel didn't know when, but she had fallen asleep at some point, and Harry was shaking her gently.

"Mmmm", Laurel muttered, still half asleep.

"We have to get going Laurel. We can't stay here all night", Harry said quietly.

"What's the time?" Laurel asked sleepily.

"It's almost two in the morning", Harry said as he looked at his watch.

"Really," Laurel asked as she brushed the hair out of her face. She realised her clothes were slightly damp from the dew and there was grass over all over her clothes.

"Yeah, now come on", Harry took her hand, and looked at the map before they made their way back to the castle.

"It looks like we're clear. I think the teacher's must not parole the castle this early in the morning", Harry said quietly. Laurel led them back to the tower while Harry watched the map just in case. They went without the cloak on, since it was quicker and there was less chance of getting caught at this time in the morning.

They didn't have any problems getting back. When they climbed through the portrait (after waking an angry painting) there was no one around. There was still mess everywhere from the party, the house elves hadn't cleaned up yet.

"Night Harry," Laurel said as she walked towards her dorm.

"Laurel," Harry said, grabbing her hand. Laurel turned around.

"Yes Harry", Laurel asked.

"Thanks again, for everything. You're a great friend", Harry said, blushing. Laurel smiled as she walked back to her room.

No one woke up when she came back into the room. Laurel was thankful, there would be too many questions to answer, even if she'd done nothing bad. But when someone hears you spent all night out with a boy and snuck back into your room, it doesn't look good.

Laurel was just drifting back to sleep when hers eyes opened wide, not that you could tell in the dark, and she came to the realisation. She liked Harry Potter. And she smiled after that, thinking that maybe Harry liked her back. It was hard to tell with boys. She didn't get much sleep that night, thinking about ever little detail on her's and Harry's friendship and if he did in fact like her.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Laurel and Harry are so cute! I love them. I'm starting to slowly let them explore their feelings and eventually they'll get together. But it will be slow, and maybe a little awkward and they will be shy. At that age in your first relationship I think that's accurate.


	13. Training Begins

**Chapter 13**

 **Training begins**

The next morning was Sunday, and even though Laurel could have slept in, she woke up before the sun was up, and couldn't get back to sleep. She was too anxious about Harry having to compete in the tournament. At 5am Laurel got up and decided it was now or never to start training with Harry. She quickly got dressed in comfortable track suit pants, a loose top and a jumper and did her hair up in a high ponytail. She put her want in her wand holster, grabbed her note book with her list of spells in it, and went to go wake Harry up.

Piper hummed at her softly as she walked past her nest, and Laurel whispered, "Go back to bed Piper", and waited to be sure that the little bird wouldn't follow. Sleepily, Piper closed her bright red eyes and went back to sleep.

It was quiet at this time of the morning Laurel thought as she crept up the stairs and went to the fourth year's boys dormitories.

She quietly opened the door, and tip toed in. Now the only problem was which bed was Harry's? All the curtains were shut, so Laurel couldn't see who was sleeping where. She knew where Ron slept from the other night and thought perhaps Harry would be next to him.

Looking at the trunk that was set at the end of the person's bed, Laurel opened the trunk quietly to see if anything would tell her it was Harry's, and found his potions textbook, with the name on the inside saying belongs to Harry Potter. Now that she was sure that this was in fact Harry's bed, Laurel drew the curtains back.

Harry woke up with the start, confused as to why he was being woken up.

"Laurel", Harry whispered, looking around. "What are you doing in here?"

"Come on get up Harry. And get dressed in something you can exercise in. I'll explain once you're down stairs, oh and bring your wand", Laurel whispered back before hurrying out of the room.

Laurel sat down in the common room while she waited for Harry to come down. The common room was back to its usual clean self. Not a pillow was out of place.

Harry came down soon after, dressed in a black and white Nike jacket, a gray shirt, track suit pants and jogging shoes. His was as messy as ever.

"What are we doing up so early," Harry mumbled as he walked over to her.

"We need to start training Harry. I couldn't sleep-"

"So you woke me up as well", Harry grumbled.

"No, let me finish. You need to start working on your endurance. So every morning, we'll be getting up and jogging around the Quidditch pitch. Then we'll practice you spell casting and dodging abilities and work on that in the morning all before breakfast", Laurel explained in a way to chirper voice for this early in the morning.

"Every morning..." Harry said.

"Yes. Look do you want to die in this tournament Harry", Laurel said seriously as she looked into his bright green eyes.

"No, but-"

"No buts Harry. Missing a couple more hours a sleep every morning is worth it if it helps you not get killed".

"Okay", Harry sighed.

"Good, now let's go", Laurel said, before marching out the door.

As they walked through the castle, it was eerily quiet, the halls echoed with their steps, while their voices carried ground the corridors. The painting yelled at them as they passed, annoyed at being woken up, while they ignored them.

Just as they were walking down the last flight of stairs they saw Professor McGonagall walking their way, with a contemplative look on her face. When she saw them coming her way, she stopped and looked at them in confusion.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Flamel, what are you doing up at this time of the morning?" The stern professor asked them.

"Oh, are we not allowed up at this time? I've never heard anything about not being allowed up this early?"

"Well, there's nothing against it. But it's highly usual Miss Flamel", Professor McGonagall said behind her glasses as she stared at them.

"You see Professor, after last night, and being a champion, we thought it would be a good idea to start training so that I don't make a fool out of myself", Harry said in embarrassment. Professor McGonagall looked at him in surprise.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Potter, but I can arrange for you to use a spare class room whenever you need it", the teacher said, with a softer look in her eyes.

"Thank you professor", Harry said. "Actually I was also wondering. I'm taking divination this year. And I mmm don't see myself being a seer anytime soon, and was wondering if I could drop it. I don't have to sit the exams anyway Professor and I would use the time to for my own personal study", harry said quickly as if he could convince Professor McGonagall if he presented his reasons before she said no.

"Well Potter, that's up to the headmaster, but I think it's a rather good idea, under the circumstances. I'll discuss it with the headmaster and give you an answer by this afternoon as the latest", Professor McGonagall said before letting them go.

"That's a great idea Harry", Laurel mused.

"Well I got it from you. I just figured since I don't have to sit the exams then there's no point in going to the class if I'm dropping it next year".

"Good thinking. You can practice in a spare classroom during that class once Professor McGonagall books it", Laurel said excitedly as this new prospect.

They made their way to the Quidditch pitch uninterrupted after that. Looking at the oval pitch, Laurel had never noticed how big it was. Not wanting to leave Harry to run on his own, it seems unfair in a way, Laurel was going to have to try and run to.

"Ok, we can start off doing just the one lap until we can run the whole thing and then add in another in a week or so hopefully", Laurel said, unsure of if she'd ever be able to run a full lap.

They stretched out for a couple for minutes to warm up, before they set out. It only took a couple of minutes for Laurel to stop, gasping as her lungs burned from the cold and from working so hard. Ahead of her, Harry was still going, Laurel was impressed. She finally recovered enough to walk the rest of the lap, which took what felt like ages. Harry it seemed was able to run almost the full lap, before he had to stop and catch his breath, wiping the sweat off his brow.

Once Laurel caught up with him, they both sat down for a couple of minutes to recover. Laurel was sweaty and she didn't like it, but it somehow felt good in a way. She'd never been that active in years. She was going to be sore tomorrow. Laurel thought for a moment, was there some way to heal your muscles, making recovery time quicker? Laurel didn't know. She wrote a mental note to go to the library later and see, maybe Hermione could help her. She was also considering asking Hermione if she wanted to join them, Ron as well once he got over his issues.

"Ok, time for some duelling Harry", Laurel said as she got out her wand. Laurel, like other students her age, had not had much practice as duelling, so even though she was helping Harry, she'd also be improving her own skills, something that pleased her.

"Err, are you sure. I don't want to hurt you or anything", Harry muttered as he took out his wand.

"Bring it Potter", Laurel teased as she readied herself. "Nothing but stunners, disarming spells and shields alright, I just want to practice and see how we go", Laurel called as she got a distant between them.

Laurel had to admit, Harry was good. He had her wand after a couple of seconds and was teasing her that maybe she was the one that needed practice and not him. Angered, the second round lasted longer, with Laurel putting more effort into each spell. Laurel was quick, but harry had more practice at disarming, he seemed to favour relying on disarming spells and stunning spells, not really using any shields at all. After a while, Laurel realised, maybe he didn't know any shield charms.

Laurel called a stop and asked Harry, "Question. Do you know any shield charms Harry?"

Harry looked embarrassed as he answered, "no".

"Nothing to be embarrassed about. We only start learning them in fifth year I think. I've just read ahead. It's my fault for assuming you new it", Laurel said as she walked over to Harry.

"Ok this is your task for today, mastering the shield charm, Protego," Laurel said. She demonstrated the spell, and showed him the wand movement to perform it before watching him as he tried to cast the spell for the first time. They spend the next half hour seeing if Harry's shield charm was strong enough to withstand Laurel's constant assault of spells. Harry got it after a while; he was a natural at defence against the dark arts, so it was no surprise. Harry even looked like he was enjoying himself; his emerald green eyes were filled with achievement and excitement at having mastered the spell. Though once they headed back to the castle that changed. Harry became tenser with each step, keeping his head down.

There weren't many people up still at this time, so they decided to eat breakfast fast before leaving.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, the few students that were up at the table cheered at Harry and waved or came over to congratulate him. Laurel watched as Harry became more and more uncomfortable.

"Sorry Laurel, I need to get out of here," Harry muttered as another person came up.

"Thanks okay, I'll be in the library; I need to look into some things. If you see Hermione, can you tell her where I am? I might need her help", Laurel said.

"What are you looking into", Harry asked, curious.

"You'll see, hopefully. It's just something that might made things a little easier", Laurel replied smarty before going back to her toast.

After Harry hurried back to the tower, Laurel soon left the Great Hall after quickly finishing her breakfast. As she made her way out, she passed Ron, who had apparently gotten up early. Laurel was surprised; usually he didn't get up until the last possible moment. She turned her head as he came past, not wanting to see him as she made her way to the library. Ron made a noise as if to stop her, but she didn't look back. She wouldn't talk to him until he apologised for the way he had been acting.

Laurel spent the better part of the morning in the Library, looking up potion books, anything that referenced nutritional potions, or potions to help with muscle pain and exercise. She found a few useful potions, one to take every day to boost your health and metabolism, another to take after every work out that would help with soreness and muscle pain, and a nutritional potion that would help to maintain a healthy weight. All of these would be useful for Harry to take, and maybe Laurel could take the one for soreness, she was already starting to feel the effects of her exercise, even if it hadn't been much of a work out.

Gathering the textbooks with the marked pages she needed, she headed off to the potions lap where she could brew them.

Hermione found her a couple of hours later, as she finished up two of the potions and was bottling them. They would last about two weeks Laurel counted, as she marked the bottles with dates and labels.

"What are you working on Laurel?" Hermione asked as walked into the class room. Laurel looked up and smiled.

"Hey Hermione. Just some stuff that should help Harry. Did you see him at all", Laurel asked and she arranged her ingredients for the last potion.

"Yes, only just an hour or so, I went looking for you in the library but I couldn't find you so I thought you'd be here. What is all this?"

"Well, I decided that with the tournament, Harry needs as much help as he can get. So I got him up early this morning and we worked on his endurance and duelling skills. Then I got to thinking, there must be potions to help things along", Laurel said. Hermione looked at her sternly.

"Are you helping Harry to cheat," Hermione asked in surprise.

"No," Laurel laughed. "I'm making him a couple of different potions to help him with recovery time from his endurance training and things. This one's a nutritional potion, I thought Harry could use it to help his body get all the nutrition's it needs as well as it helps a body restore itself to a healthy weight. This one helps to heal sore muscles and stuff", Laurel said as she touched the bright orange bottle.

"Oh, that's really actually smart. I didn't even know there were potions for that type of stuff. Do you need any help with the last one", Hermione asked as she looked through the instructions.

"Sure, it shouldn't take more than an hour", Laurel said as she cleaned her caldron out with a spell and got it ready on the fire.

Once they were finished, they bottled up all the potions, spelling them to become unbreakable, and headed off to the tower to store the potions away.

They pasted Ron again as they went up to the girls dorms and Laurel again walked past him.

"So, Ron's still not forgiven is he", Hermione said up in their room.

"No, not until he apologies for what he said and realizes that Harry didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire. He's so thick that boy", Laurel said crossly.

"I know, but maybe for Ron it's just too much. He's always pushed to the background, with his brothers, and Harry, and he's just jealous", Hermione said sensibly.

"I can understand that but Harry's his best friend and we can see that Harry didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire," Laurel said slowly. "But he said some things that hurt me to".

"Like what," Hermione asked.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," Laurel muttered as she put the bottles under her bed.

The rest of the night Laurel spent with Harry in the common room. He hadn't wanted to go down for dinner, so instead, Laurel went down and bought a few things back up for Harry once she was finished. They went through their plans for the week, and decided to try and get up early each morning for an hour of practical training, including running, and then duelling after. Hermione agreed to come down as well and help, as well as practicing an hour or so after classes each day in a spare class room.

Professor McGonagall had come into the common room later that night, since Harry hadn't come down for dinner, to let him know that Dumbledore was fine with Harry dropping divination as long as he used the time wisely.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next day was Monday, and Laurel had thought by then the hostility from the other houses would have died down, they didn't. It seemed the other houses all thought Harry had entered his name into the Goblet of fire. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they did not seem impressed.

The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them. One Herbology lesson was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the Hufflepuffs felt that Harry had stolen their champion's glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch.

Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch Fletchley, with whom Harry normally got on very well, did not talk to him even though they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray - though they did laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing Bulbs wriggled free from Harry's grip and smacked him hard in the face.

Laurel had glared at them across the table while she worked with Neville. Neville had been one of the kindest towards Harry after becoming a champion. He didn't badger Laurel for information, nor did he expect information. Laurel had gotten better at Herbology because of Neville's help, and was now above average in the class. Though she had to cancel her study sessions with him and Professor Sprout for the time being, she was rather getting good at working with plants. She could see how Neville loved Herbology. It was satisfying watching something grow and blossom from your care.

Ron still hadn't apologised to Laurel, and he was still not talking to Harry. Hermione sat between them, making very forced conversation, but though both answered her normally, they avoided making eye contact with each other. Laurel didn't understand what Hermione was trying to do, forcing them together wasn't going to magically make them friends again.

And while it was easy to ignore the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses, ignoring the Slytherins wasn't so easy. They had Care of Magical Creatures next with the Slytherins,

Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place.

"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Harry. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer...Half the Triwizard champions have died...how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."

Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically, but Malfoy had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt.

And on the torment went. Laurel was worried that Harry would retaliate one day and lose it, but it seemed Harry was ignoring most of it. With their extra training and studying sessions, both Laurel and Harry were tired and barely had time to pay attention to Malfoy, they had more important things to do.

But even though they were tired, the potions had been helping immensely, and the energy potions were helping as well.

Meanwhile, Harry had started to become more focused in classes, and along with Hermione and Laurel, Harry was able to produce a perfect summoning charm, all of them being awarded five points each for their success. That had made Harry's day, he normally didn't get points for charms.

But his mood came crashing down once they got to the dungeons.

When Harry, Laurel, and Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. Laurel looked at them to see what they said, and saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY-  
THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!  
"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Harry approached. "And this isn't all they do - look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

POTTER STINKS!  
The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty."

"What a great use of magic Malfoy, I hope your fathers proud that you can do a simple changing charm. First years could have achieved that", Laurel sneered.

Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.

"Want one, Flamel?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to her. "I've got loads. You should be supporting the real champion".

"Sure Malfoy", Laurel said sweetly as she took a badge from him. "Thanks", she said before taking her wand out and performing a perfect banishing charm on the badge that Professor McGonagall would have been proud of.

"Let me know if you need any help disposing of the rest", Laurel said tauntingly as she went inside. She'd just sat down and put her potions book on her table when she heard a commotion outside and walked back out to see what was happening.

Ron was standing next to Hermione and pulled her hands away from her face. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.

Laurel ran over to Hermione, trying to comfort her.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.

Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.

"- and he hit Goyle - look -"

Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

"Hermione," Laurel called after her, but didn't follow her friend.

Laurel turned on Harry and Ron as they started shouting. Once they saw her expression they stopped.

"Don't, leave it to me", Laurel said quietly as she looked at them.

No one, Laurel thought, no one deserved to be treated like that, especially by a teacher. She was fuming inside as she took her seat.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one..."

A knock on the dungeon door interrupted Laurel as got out her antidote instructions.

It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.

"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink.

"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs..."

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir - he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Cohn. "All the champions..."

"Very well!" said Snape. "Potter - take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Harry swung his bag over his shoulder, nodded at Laurel, got up, and headed for the door.

Laurel worked through her antidote silently next to Ron. She looked around the room, watching everyone as she went. She noticed that Malfoy had added eel skin too early, and knew that if you added dragon liver, it would create a terrible reaction, depending on the other ingredients and what else Malfoy had messed up. Acting as if she needed more ingredients, Laurel walked over to the storage cupboard and found what she needed, along with some other ingredients as a cover.

As she walked past Malfoys caldron, she accidently tripped, spilling her items on the ground, as her hand smoothly dropped the dragon liver in his caldron. It wouldn't react straight away, since dragon liver took a couple of minutes to dissolve in a potion.

The Slytherins laughed as she bent down to pick up her fallen ingredients, while Professor Snape didn't look up from his desk.

Laurel went back to her table, and continued making her antidote silently as she waiting in anticipation. It didn't take long as she heard Malfoy muttering something about his potion acting strange, before long everyone stopped what they were doing to watch as his potion started to bubble and turned a thick black colour.

"What is going on", Professor Snape said as he got up to see what you the commotion was about. He walked over to Malfoy.

"What is the meaning of this. What did to put in your antidote Mr. Malfoy", Professor Snape snapped as he looked at the potion, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Nothing Sir. It just started to bubble and changed colour", Malfoy replied as he tried to stir the potion. Big mistake, the movement against the fragile potion sped up the reaction and suddenly it exploded, covering Professor Snape, Malfoy and most of the Slytherins in a tar like substance. And then it started to fizz against their skin, and welts the size of grapes started to bubble onto their skin. Laurel couldn't have timed it better herself.

Laurel had never seen Professor Snape look so angry.

"Everyone out! Class is over. Anyone that touched the potion to the hospital wing immediately", he called as he tried to wipe the slim off his face and arms, which only resulted in him gasping in pain from the contact. The Slytherins all rushed out as fast as they could to get to the hospital wing, while the Gryffindors walked out casually as they discussed what just happened. Laurel was sure she saw Malfoy crying as he ran out.

Laurel smiled as she walked out, hopefully Malfoy will have lost some house points and serve detention.

"Laurel", Ron called as she walked out, "Did you do that?" he asked quietly down the corridor once everyone was out of sight.

"Maybe," Laurel said finally as she looked at Ron.

"Look Laurel," Ron signed as he his ears turned pink. "I'm sorry for what I said the other day. I didn't mean it, I was just angry-"

"And jealous", Laurel added. Ron glared on her.

"Fine I was jealous, but you can't understand what it's like always being pushed aside. And everyone else has something but me", Ron said insecurely.

"What do you mean?' Laurel asked as she stared at him.

"Well... you know, Harry's famous and great at defence against the dark arts, Hermione and you are the smartest witches in our year. I've got nothing compared to you guys. And now Harry's a champion, and everyone is saying he'll be rubbish, but you know Harry, he always gets through these types of situations looking good. I just wish for once it was me", Ron said as he looked away.

"Ron," Laurel said as she stood next to him. "I accept your apology. But don't be an arse again or you'll regret it. But I don't see how you see yourself that way. Your amazing at strategy, no one can beat you in chest. And maybe you're not the best at one subject, but if you put a little more effort in. Look at Hermione and me. We're always in the library studying, that's why we don't have as much trouble as everyone else. I bet you, if you focused a little more on studying, you'll see a difference".

"You think," Ron asked shyly.

"Sure, I'd also invite you to come with Harry, Hermione and I in the mornings but... if you're still annoyed at Harry then there's no point".

"Fine I'll talk to Harry once he gets back from his photo shoot", Ron muttered.

Laurel beamed at him, "Great, we're all friends again".

"Now tell me, what did you do to Malfoy's caldron," Ron asked excitedly.

"Ohh," Laurel giggled evilly. "You know when I tripped. I threw some dragon liver in his caldron, which takes time to react to a potion, but when it does, it's best to steer clear".

"And here I was worrying about Snape. Image you when you're angry. Perfect little princess my arse", Ron said sarcastically.

"Why thank you", Laurel said sweetly.

"Should we go and visit Hermione and see if she's alright before dinner?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I hope Madame Pomfrey can fix her teeth", Laurel fritted.

"I'm sure she could. These things happen all the time," Ron assured her.

"Oh wait, on second thought, it's probably a bad idea to go other there right now with all the Slytherins", Laurel said.

"Oh yeah. I hope Malfoy got treated last, serves him right," Ron muttered angrily.

With that, they headed off to dinner, back to being friends.

Laurel sat down next to Harry once they got to the great hall, and Ron hesitantly sat down on Harry's other side. Harry turned and looked at Ron, waiting for him to say something. Ron became uncomfortable and for the second time that day his ears turned pink.

"Look Harry. I'm sorry I didn't believe for about putting your name in the tournament. I'm sorry", Ron muttered. It wasn't the best apology in the world, and far less of an explanation that what Ron had told her, but it some progress.

Harry stared at him for a moment before speaking, "Took you long enough".

"Yeah, well Laurel had a go at me and forced me to rethink my ways", Ron said as he grimaced at Laurel and Harry.

"Ugh?" Harry said looking between the two.

"Let's just say she can be scary when she wants to be Harry", Ron whispered to Harry and they both looked at her. "I'll tell you about it later".

In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

It had fuelled on the students that already held a grudge against Harry as a reminder of Cedric being pushed aside. Laurel had seen the article and even she had to admit it was a horrible piece of work that had no truth at all. She was worried about how Cedric would take it.

What was even worse was the comments Harry had apparently said, Laurel couldn't see Harry saying any of it. From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people -Slytherins, mainly - quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"

Harry just kept walking, ignoring the comments. Laurel sighed in relief. Harry seemed to be able to ignore most of it thankfully.

Hermione had come into her fair share of unpleasantness too. Laurel had to give Hermione some credit, sherwas handling it all very well.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"

"As if she can talk," Laurel huffed. Laurel, who was the only one that had noticed Hermione front teeth, had to admit that without them in the way, Hermione had a beautiful smile. When Laurel had confronted Hermione about it, she'd just grinned and winked at her.

Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, also sitting across from where Laurel and Hermione were sitting. Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered them - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting. Laurel didn't mind too much, as long as they kept their distance.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily at Laurel and Harry while they were studying in the library, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing -"

"Wronski Feint," said Harry, through gritted teeth. Laurel giggled.

Laurel wanted to talk to Cedric, she hadn't seen him in a while, and was worried that maybe he didn't want to be her friend anymore since Harry was her friend, and had taken all the publicity from him. Whenever she saw him, he was always with his Hufflepuff friends; she wanted to catch him alone.

So she was surprised, when one afternoon as she studied in the library, Cedric came up and sat beside her, no fan club in sight.

"Cedric," Laurel said smiling, looking up from her textbook. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well. Getting nervous", Cedric replied as he ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"I'm sure you'll do great. I've been meaning to talk to you. I felt so bad after reading that article about the tournament that said Harry was the only Hogwarts champion", Laurel said sadly.

Cedric waved off her concerns, "its fine. I mean, my dad had a huge rant about it, and wrote to the Daily Prophet about it, but at least I didn't have an article like Harry did about himself crying at night and his love life".

"I guess. I can't believe all those lies. Harry didn't say anything of the sort. That Skiter woman made up her own story just for views", Laurel said angrily.

"You know, Harry told me something on the night he was chosen, that he didn't actually put his name in the Goblet. Do you believe him?" Cedric asked, looking at her carefully.

"I do Cedric. Harry would never have put his name in. The professors even said a student couldn't have confused the Goblet like that. It was dark magic", Laurel said heatedly.

"Ok, sorry. I just wanted to make sure. With everything going on I wanted the truth", Cedric whispered as madam Pince looked at them.

"I'm sorry to. You do deserve the truth. But Harry is so worried about making a fool of himself. And people have died in the tournament before. I don't want that to happen to Harry, or you", Laurel said softly.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Harry's tough, and I've noticed you guys training in the mornings", Laurel looked at him is surprise. "I've been doing my own training and studying as well", Cedric winked.

"Good, so are you nervous. I know I am and I'm not even competing. It's scary not knowing what you'll be facing", Laurel said tensely.

"I know. I don't know if anything I'm studying is going to be useful or not", Cedric mumbled as he flicked her textbook.

"I wonder if any of the history of the Triwizard tournament would have any clues. It might be worth a look to see what other champions have faced", Laurel suggested.

"You know, that's a good idea. I never thought of that," Cedric said excitedly. For the next couple of hours, Laurel and Cedric went over the history of the Triwizard tournament and the different tasks that each champion had to face. Some of it was quit gruesome. In one task, the champions had to hunt and kill a giant and bring back a foot.

That night, Laurel dreamed about Harry and Cedric battling giants and covered in blood. It was a restless night.

* * *

 **Authors note**

Another chapter finished. I'm trying to move through the Goblet of Fire quickly and get onto the fifth book where I'll actually be changing major events.


	14. The First Task

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

So this chapter will be really similar to canon. Can't really change much, but I did try and change a little. Hope you enjoy!

~Briane94

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **The First Task**

The next month passed by quickly. Laurel, Harry, and Ron had all started training together in the morning, Hermione as well, though she didn't participate in the exercise part. After a week, Laurel could run the full lap, and by the time the first task came around, she was running two full laps.

Harry was also looking very fit and had been getting a lot more attention from the female population, even if they were still mad at him for taking away Cedric's moment as the Hogwarts champion. He had gained some weight, and maybe a little height and he looked really healthy. It was a stark change from the skinny 13-year old that everyone had seen last year. Laurel couldn't help but blush when she caught him every now and then looking at her. Ron was just happy to be getting fit, saying that it would help him next year when he tried out for Quidditch. Ron had become a little more focused on his studies, maybe it was because he didn't have Harry to slack off with as much, or maybe he had realized he didn't want to be left behind either way, it was working.

Their dueling ability had increased as well. Laurel and Harry would go first, one of one, and then Harry would duel with Ron after. Ron was becoming a very good dueller; Laurel had been surprised the first time that he and Harry had dueled, Harry had won yes, but Ron had almost beat him. Every day it became harder and harder for Harry to win against them, and every day Laurel and Ron were getting better. After, Laurel and Ron would throw spells at Harry to work on his dodging and shields as payback. Hermione would sit with them and study, and sometimes she did participate in the dueling, but rarely since she was usually stuck in a book.

In Harry's spare period, he'd go either to the library or the spare classroom that Professor McGonagall had allocated for him and practice spells that Laurel and Hermione thought he might need. And once they found out that Harry would, in fact, be battling a dragon, Laurel and Hermione spent hours in the library learning all they could about dragons and their weaknesses.

Laurel could tell that Harry was still feeling anxious about the tournament, and they couldn't find much on how to attack a dragon. If there was more time Laurel would have asked Ron if he could write a letter to Charlie asking for advice, but there was no guaranty that he would reply since you weren't supposed to ask for help and he was working for the tournament. Sirius was about to tell Harry a spell that would be useful at their meeting but had been interrupted by a student coming down stairs.

"We just have to think", Laurel was muttering as she paced back and forth along a row of books in the library. But with all four of them searching through the library, it wasn't enough. They'd searched through every book they could on dragons and had found nothing. It was with a heavy heart that Laurel went to Herbology that afternoon. Harry had run off somewhere on the way, so it was just her, Hermione and Ron. Laurel hoped he hadn't gotten into trouble.

So with only one day until the first task, it was an excited Harry that came running to class halfway through the lesson, whispering how Moody had given him an idea of what to do.

For the rest of the afternoon helping Harry to practice the summoning charm at different locations to make sure that it would work from a long distance. Laurel and Hermione had Arithmancy, while Harry had his free period, so they left him to keep studying and practicing any useful spells they had marked that would be helpful in any way. Laurel had included some healing spells encase Harry needed to heal himself quickly, while Hermione's notes included practice spells to defend against the dragon, not that much would work against a dragons hid, but they had finally found a reference in an old textbook that mentioned that a dragon's weakness laid in the parts of its body that weren't covered in scales, so basically the eyes were the only weakness that a dragon had. Though it wasn't much to go on, trying to hit dragon's eyes wasn't the biggest target in the world, it was still something.

The following morning, Laurel woke up with anxiety gripping at her heart, fear for Harry and the dangers that faced him at the front of her mind. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there. All throughout the classes, Laurel shot Harry worried looks. He was barely focusing on the content, staring off into space. Laurel couldn't blame him; she wouldn't want to face a dragon either.

When the lessons were finally over Laurel, Ron, and Hermione all wished Harry luck at lunch, trying to distract him. Harry barely ate a thing, Hermione and Ron were watching him in worry.

And then Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching. Time had gone so fast.

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now...You have to get ready for your first task."

"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!

Laurel walked with him to the door, out of sight to say goodbye. Professor McGonagall walked a little ahead, not looking back.

"Harry, we've done everything we could to get you ready. I'm positive you're ready. You can do this. We've trained all month, and you've never been this focused on anything before", Laurel said as she hugged him tightly. "You'll do great", she whispered as she kissed his cheek before running off. Not looking back at his expression.

Laurel was blushing when she went back to sit with Ron and Hermione, but they didn't seem to notice, all of them worried about Harry and how he would go. Once lunch was finished, they were all ushered outside and made their way down to the stadium that had been built overnight in seemed. The stadium was huge, bigger than the Quidditch stadium they were used to. It was more crowded as well, with foreign students, reporters and minister officials.

They found good seats half way up the stadium and sat down. Loud chatter surrounded then as all the students were talking excitedly. Hermione then ran off, wanting to check on Harry, Laurel declined to go as well, too anxious about it all and saved Hermione's seat in-between Ron and herself. When Hermione finally came back, she was blushing and muttering about that horrible Skeeter woman, Laurel looked at her in confusion, but Hermione waved her off.

A whistle suddenly blew and everyone stopped talking to look to where Dumbledore was standing with the ministry officials.

"Now, you've all waiting. Let the first task begin. The champions have all just found out what they will be doing, they'll each have to get through a nesting mother dragon, and collect a fake egg in the nest. To begin we have our first Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore shouted as Cedric came out of the tent and saw what he faced. The crowd roared at seeing Cedric, everyone going crazy.

Laurel looked worrying at Cedric, he didn't look good. Laurels fears were unfounded, as Cedric transfigured a rock on the ground, turned it into a dog, it was clear he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Laurel had known he was great at transfiguration, but not that good. It almost worked perfectly, until the dragon decided it wanted Cedric instead of the dog, and Cedric only just got the egg and dodged before the dragon let out a torrent of flames, some of the flames hit Cedric as he was too slow to get totally out of the way. Laurel gasped as Cedric fell down, but then the dragon tamers were there, forcing the dragon away from Cedric and then stunned it. Everyone cheered for Cedric, he had done it!

"Go Cedric!" Laurel called as he was led away, with a grin on his face even though he was clearly in pain.

Everything seemed to have gone so slowly. Fleur was next, and then Krum and then lastly, Harry.

Fleur tried some sort of charm, like she was trying to put the dragon into a trance. It worked. Until the dragon snored, and a great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand.

And Krum hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. His dragon went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs. That would cost him some points. Laurel had to admit Krum had done well, but Laurel still felt bad for the mother that had lost some of its eggs. It seemed to have gotten into a rage after that, and it took ages for the handlers to subdue the angered mother dragon.

And then it was Harry's turn. The whistle blew and Harry walked out of the entrance of the tent. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence. The crowd went wide like with the other champions in excitement and Laurel could hear many of the students actually calling out in encouragement at what Harry would be facing. Laurel screamed along with them, as did Hermione and Ron as they saw the horrible beast that Harry would have to face.

The Horntail was at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground.

Harry raised his wand. "Accio Firebolt!" he shouted. And Harry waited. Everyone watched in confusion except for Laurel and her friends at what Harry was doing.

And then Harry's Firebolt was hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise.

"And see here. Harry's summoned his broom. A Firebolt if I'm not mistaken!" Bagman shouted from the stands.

Harry was soaring through the air, as if he wasn't just about to face off with a dragon. He was in his element. Harry flew higher and higher before diving into a steep decline.

The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away.

"Go Harry!" Laurel screamed exuberantly, jumping in her seat as she watched in fear and excitement. Harry could do it. She knew he could.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress.

Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time the dragon changed it course, the tail came out instead, trying to hit Harry with its spikes. Harry, taken by surprise, just missed the spikes, only getting grazed with one deadly spike on his cheek. Laurel was lucky they'd practiced dodging so much, otherwise she didn't Harry would have been so lucky. The crowd screamed more.

Harry seemed to have realised that the Horntail wouldn't leave her eggs. He changed his course and started to take a different approach.

He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared. He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer.

Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. Her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now. She shot fire into the air, which he dodged. Her jaws opened wide.

And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Laurel screamed along with Hermione.

Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs - he had taken his hands off his Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg .

And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off; he was soaring out over the stands, the golden egg safely under his arm. And the crowd went wide. Everyone was screaming and applauding. Laurel, Hermione and Ron along with everyone else. Harry had been amazing. Only a small scratch on his face.

"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

Laurel and Hermione were now out of their seats, jumping and hugging each other in shock, relief, excitement and so much other emotions that Laurel couldn't place.

And then the dragon keepers when rushing into the arena to subdue the Horntail, and Harry was flying towards the entrance of the enclosure, towards Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid, everyone beaming at him.

"Come on lets go see Harry", Laurel screamed over the crowd and she darted between people, not looking back to see if they were following.

Laurel ran into the tent, knocking into Harry as he caught her.

"You were amazing Harry", Laurel shouted. Hermione and Ron followed behind her as then pulled the tent flap open.

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"

"I can't believe it. You did better than the others, mate", Ron said excitedly.

"The way you got your egg. Ingenious!" Laurel was still bouncing on her feet; she felt like she'd just eaten a bucket of sugar, she couldn't stop.

"Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores..."Ron grinned. Harry picked up his egg and Firebolt, and followed then outside.

"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground...turned it into a dog...he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them." Ron drew breath as he finished. They came to the edge of the enclosure, the Horntail now gone.

"And you were the only one to not get injured Harry. Everyone else got points taken off for injuries", Laurel said excitedly.

"It was quite a show Harry. No one can believe now good you did", Hermione said breathlessly.

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, as they watched the judges score Harry's performance.

Madame Maxime was first, she raised her wand in the air and a long silver ribbon shot out, twisting into a figure 9. Laurel cheered, that was a great score.

"Well done Harry", Laurel said as she jumped up and down.

"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took one mark off for the scratch though it's barely anything".

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a ten. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman - ten.

"Two tens?" said Harry in disbelief.

"Harry you really don't understand how well you did compared to the others", Hermione explained.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too – 7.

"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Seven? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!"

"Who care you're in the led!" Laurel screamed in excitment.

Laurel looked on as they judges announced that Harry was in the lead! Almost a perfect score. The crowd went wide, all cheering for Harry. Laurel thought it was a bit rich; a day ago they were all booing him. Krum took in second place, while Cedric came in third and Fleur in fourth.

"You're coming in first, Harry!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes...Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Laurel, Ron and Hermione all waited for Harry. All of them talking excitedly about Harry's performance. Laurel was sure Harry could win.

Once Harry got back, they all started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking about everyone's performance. Harry wanted to know what the other champions had done in more detail, Laurel and Hermione explained it better than Ron did.

Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.

It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.

"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."

And then they all continued walking back to the castle, Laurel giggling at Skeeters face. It didn't seem like she got told 'no' a lot.

Harry didn't want to go back to the common straight away, and so they all headed to the Owlery as the sun came down, so that Harry could send Sirius a letter.

Once they were done, they watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry - Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."

"It's not a surprise anymore now Ron" Laurel huffed with her hands on her hips.

"What? He was going to find out in a minute anyway", Ron said in his defence.

Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire. Laurel would have glared at him for that image of Cedric, but she was too much of a good mood to do anything tonight.

They all sat together on two couches, and helped themselves to the food and drinks. It was the first time in a while that they'd all been this happy and care free.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules..."

"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione, Laurel and Ron could hear him, and they all grinned rather guiltily. Though Laurel didn't think it was fair to say that they couldn't have friends help them. It's not like anyone tried to stop them from going out in the mornings.

"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed.

Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.

It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.

"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee...Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing...maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower. Harry."

Laurel thought for a moment. The egg was obviously a clue, but to what, she had no idea.

The party lasted well past everyone's bed time. But no one came in to tell them to get to bed. It was well into the morning that everyone finally headed to bed, all of them tired from the excitement from the day. Laurel went off to bed more relaxed than she'd been in the last month with a smile on her face.

* * *

 **Authors note**

So my reasoning for Harry coming in first came from the fact that Harry should have won the first task if some of the judges weren't bias in their scoring. I really never understood why the school headmasters were the ones to give out the scores. That's obviously going to be bias. Also I don't know if you noticed but I changed it a little, Harry got injured as badly in my version, which is because he trained with Laurel, Ron and Hermione every morning. Makes sense that he'd have a little more skills than in canon. I'm not too sure, but I'm thinking of having Harry win the first two tasks, he would have won in the first one anyway because Harry's awesome. And in the second task, Harry was an idiot and wanted to save everyone, like a school is going to just leave the kids come there to die if you don't retrieve them. Use your brain Harry! But I have said Harry will be smarter (ish) so that's my reasoning behind Harry winning it all. As for the third task, you'll have to wait and see.


	15. The date

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Sorry Sorry Sorry. It's been ages! I know. I just went through a phase of not wanting to write after getting a couple of bad reviews and then life happened and work and I've just been so busy lately. But I'm back. And I plan on finishing this story, even if it takes me a while. I do love your reviews, but I gotta say, if you don't have anything nice to say please don't review. There's positive and negative critizism which I can handle, but to just bad mouth my story isn't right. It's an OC so yeah, Laurel is the main character and it's focused on her view and what she adds to the story.

~Briane94

 **Chapter 15**

 **The date**

"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"

Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up while Laurel giggled at them as she sat next to Hermione on the other side of Harry.

It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}. The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock. Hermione didn't even have the nerve to glare at them like usual; it seemed everyone was just to unfocused to care today.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, "I have something to say to you all.

Laurel, who was playing with her wand and practicing different spell movements, looked up.

"The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry. Laurel glared at them from her place beside Harry. Of course now that he was a champion they were interested in him. It didn't help that without his glasses anymore and having filled out quite a bit since that start of the year Harry was looking very good.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Laurel grinned at the statement; it was kind of funny, Professor McGonagall with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."

Harry waved goodbye to them as he walked up to the Professor.

"I can't believe it. A ball", Laurel said excitedly to Ron and Hermione and they walked out.

"Now we know why we needed the dress robes", Hermione said, with a hint of a smile playing at her lips.

"Come off it. I'm not going if I have to wear those dress robes", Ron muttered darkly.

"Oh right. I did promise to try and fix those for you. I'll tell you what, if you go grab them before dinner I'll spend tonight fixing them for you", Laurel said kindly.

"You mean it", Ron said, his perking up.

"Sure, I'm positive I can do something some with them", Laurel said as they walked off.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Later that night, Laurel was by herself in the library with Ron's horrible dress robes laid out at her table and a charms book open as she looked up spells to change clothes colours and such. So far she had banished the white lace ruffles all over the robes, but it was still the same colour, an ugly dirty maroon colour that would never go with Ron's hair. When she finally found a spell to change colours, she excitedly tried the spell and imaged the colour pink before casting the spell quietly. Before her eyes the robes changed to a bright pink and Laurel couldn't help but laugh as the image of Ron wearing them.

"I can see you're having fun", Cedric said casually as he sat down next to her at the table.

Laurel stopped her giggling and looked up, "Hey Cedric", Laurel said as she smiled at her friend.

"Hi...can I ask what you're doing with that?" Cedric asked as he looked at the robes in confusion and mirth.

"Oh that. I'm just trying to make these a little nicer for Ron. It's all his mom could afford", Laurel said sadly.

"And the pink", he questioned.

Laurel ran a hand through her hair and smiled sheepishly, "I was just practising first. Watch". Laurel picked up her wand, imaging a dark blue, she cast the spell again, and they both watched as the pink turned into a royal dark blue colour.

"Nice. I'm sure he'll appreciate that more than the pink. Is this your first time altering clothes? It's pretty good for a first go. One of the girls in my house does it as a hobby and is always asking for challenges. Maybe you could ask her for some help if you want to learn more. I'm sure she'd love to help", Cedric suggested. Laurel thought about it for a moment, on one hand it sounded like she wasn't doing a very good job and needed help, but on the other, she really didn't want to have to go to the ball in horrible robes, even if she had made them much better, but they were still outdated.

"Ok then. When could you introduce me?" Laurel asked as she folded the robes up and shoved them into her bag.

"Right now if you wanted. I'm not doing much. And I'm sure Bree would love to help out."

"Fine by me just let me return my books", Laurel said excitedly as she picked the booked stacked on the table and quickly returned them. She had to admit Cedric was a very nice person. They'd only been friends since school had started and yet in felt like there had been friends for years. It seemed like they both wanted the same thing, friendship and nothing more. Just a genuine friendship where they could both be themselves.

As Laurel came back, Cedric looked up and they both walked out chatting quietly until they got out of the library.

"So where is Bree?" Laurel asked.

"I'd say the common room if I had to guess", Cedric guessed.

"Am I even allowed in your common room", Laurel questioned.

"You're with me remember", Cedric winked, "Prefect". Laurel rolled her eyes.

"Ok then. I wonder how different it is to the Gryffindor common room", Laurel wondered.

They walked down to a corridor off towards the kitchens and stopped next to a pile of barrels stacked in a dark corner of the stone wall. Looking on in confused to Cedric, he smirked at her before tapping the barrel at certain spots. Laurel watched as the barrels opened up to reveal a passage way.

"After you my lady. You are now privileged with the knowledge of our cosy little living courters", Cedric said with a flourish, in a mock voice. Laurel punched him lightly.

Laurel excitedly walked though a sloping, earthy passage, very different from the stone walls of her own house, before entering a cosy, round room. The ceiling was low, making the room feel even cosier, with yellow and black colours decorating the cheerful room. Laurel loved it. Honey coloured wood stood out on the tables and the doors, as well as the chairs and couches in the room.

"Wow, it's so different to the gryffindor common room", Laurel muttered.

"Is it. Never been up there. You'll have to return the favour some time", Cedric joked as he looked around for Bree. It seemed everyone was looking at Laurel as she stood out of place in the yellow and black students.

"Ah there she is, come met Bree," Cedric said as she led her over to a girl sitting at one of the couches with some friends.

"Oook", Laurel said slowly as she hesitantly followed.

Seeing Cedric, the girls looked up and smiled charmingly at Cedric, while looking at Laurel with confusion.

"Hey ladies. Can I steal Bree for a moment", Cedric asked politely.

"Sure", a pretty girl said, obviously Bree.

"Let's go over here and talk shall we", Cedric said. Bree looked confused but also curious as they sat down in a quiet corner of the room. Laurel smiled politely as her.

"So Bree this is Laurel, Laurel this is Bree. I thought I'd introduce you and see if you could help Laurel with something, thats if you're ok with it", Cedric explained. Understanding now what was happening, Bree smiled and nodded.

"Hi Bree", Laurel said while taking the robes from her bag. "I had a favour to ask you, Cedric mentioned that you might be able to help. I've got these robes, and I'm only new as using changing charms and such, and was wondering if you could maybe help me out", she explained.

Bree took the robes from her and looked it over.

"Oh my", Bree muttered as she studied the robes.

"Yes, it's pretty bad. A friend of mine couldn't afford the best dress robes and as a favour i said I'd try and fix them, I've already changed the colour and taken out the ruffles and lace, but it's still not something you'd want to be seen in."

"I can understand completely", Bree agreed as she put the robes down, "I'll tell you what. I'll help you out since your friends with Cedric, usually I only help out my own house but this will be a great challenge".

"Great! My friend will be so pleased. Just one more thing. Do you think you could keep it to yourself about it? I don't want it getting around about his robes", Laurel said embarrassingly as she flipped her hair behind her shoulders.

"Totally, that's fine. I can have it finished by the end of the week. I'll just give it to Cedric to give back to you", Bree said politely. Cedric smiled at them as he listened silently, pleased that he'd helped out.

"Thanks. Let me know if I can do anything in return", Laurel asked.

"I'm good but I'll let you know if I think of anything", Bree said as she got up to leave.

"Thanks Bree", Cedric said as she left.

"Mission accomplished", Cedric said proudly.

Laurel laughed. "That was a great idea, thanks Cedric".

"You're welcome. What are friends for" he replied.

Laurel spent the rest of the night in the common room with Cedric, meeting all his friends and such. Most of them were pretty nice, considering she was best friends with the person that had stolen Hufflepuffs moment.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The following day turned out to be horrible for Laurel. It seemed like no one had been able to find her yesterday since she stayed in the library and the common room the entire night, but now that she was out in the open it was like she was a target for everyone to ask her to be their date to the Yull Ball. Laurel got the shock of her life when she walked down to breakfast that morning when a good looking boy from Hufflepuff ran straight over to her and asked her to be his date. Laurel turned bright red before stammering out a polite no.

She noticed Harry getting more and more agitated as the day drew on and more and more boys asked her out. By the end of the day she'd been asked out by four boys from her own fourth year students in Gryffindor, about five boys from the upper years in her house, a couple of Ravenclaws, two seventh year boys from Hufflepuff and even a couple of Slytherins. Each time was worse than the last.

Laurel didn't want to go with any of them. There was only one person she wanted to go with, and longingly wished Harry had asked her all day. But he didn't. Maybe she had read too much into it? Maybe Harry didn't like her like that. Maybe she had just imaged that he had feelings for her. By the end of dinner she was miserable and just wanted to get away from everyone. Maybe she should just go with someone else. She said goodbye to everyone early and decided to go for a walk out in the dark. It was still early; she didn't have to be back inside for another hour or so. It was a cool night, and Laurel was starting to shiver as she had her way down to her favourite spot near the lake. The moon was out, lighting her way as she sat down, thinking. She wrapped her thick coat around herself and cast a warming charm on herself. As she sat there, she ripped the grass from the ground, making a small pile.

"Feeling a bit frustrated", a voice said from the dark. Laurel jumped; startled before realising it was just Harry, the root of her problems.

"A little", Laurel said honestly as she stopped pulling the grass up. Dusting her hands off, she looked up at Harry.

"I could tell. I hated watching all those guys asking you to the ball", Harry said intensely as he sat down next to her, facing her. Laurel tried to mask her hope.

"You did?" she said quietly.

"I did. I thought you'd say yes every time they asked, I was hoping so bad you'd say no". Harry said as he looked her in the eye. Laurels heart gave a little flutter as Harry grabbed her hand gently, rubbing his thumb against her skin, sending small shock waves up her arm.

"Laurel, would you like to go to the ball with me, as my date", Harry asked as he watched her. Laurel smiled brightly at him as she squeezed his hand.

"I'd love to Harry. I was waiting for you to ask me", Laurel said as she looked at Harry.

"I was hoping that was why", Harry said, laughing nervously. He shivered.

"Come here Harry", Laurel said as she pulled at his hand still holding hers. She pulled her cloak from around herself and laid down on the soft grass, using her cloak as a blanket for them. They ended up both lying next to each other, looking at the sky.

"Harry", Laurel started, but stopped.

"What is it", Harry asked, he was still holding her hand, which pleased Laurel.

"It's just, I was wondering, if there hadn't of been a ball. Would you have asked me out?" Laurel asked him quietly.

Harry turned to look at her, and Laurel did the same. His hand let go of hers as he reached out to pull back a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face.

"I would have. I was working up the courage to ask you for days, just like I'm working up the courage to do this", Harry muttered intently.

"Do what?" Laurel asked, before Harry gently grabbed her by the back of her neck, his hand tangling through in her hair as he pulled her close, and ever so gently, kissed her. Laurel, take by shock, was unmoving for a second, before she returned the kiss, her hand coming up to rest on Harry's chest. She felt his heat beating fast, and imaged hers was just as fast as they kissed, before both of them came up for air.

Laurel touched her lips, smiling at Harry as he laughed at her, breaking the intense current that had ran through them.

"I guess I found out", Laurel giggled. Harry lay back down on the ground, and Laurel snuggled into his chest. His hand found hers again, and he absentmindedly rubbed her hand with his thumb.

"I know this is really quick. But Laurel, would you be my girlfriend," Harry asked as he stopped moving his thumb, waiting for her reply. Laurel smiled, not that he could see.

"Yes I will Harry Potter", Laurel giggled. She couldn't believe she'd had her first kiss and had her first boyfriend at the same time. She couldn't wait to tell Hermione!

"I was hoping you'd say yes, since we'd just snogged", Harry said sheepishly.

"Come off it Potter. I would have said yes even if we hadn't of kissed. But I must say, you're a pretty good kisser", Laurel said smartly as she blushed again.

"Am I. Would you care to test that out again", Harry said confidently. Laurel, with a burst of playfulness, jumped up.

"You'll have to catch me first Harry!" Laurel shouted as she ran away laughing. Harry jumped up after her. She ran to a nearby tree, hiding behind it. When Harry finally caught her, he wrapped his arms around her, making her squeak out in surprise as he picked her up bridal style and swung her around while she laughed and shouted as him to put her down. Just as she was starting to get dizzy he stopped, and his lips met hers again. It was like fireworks. Instantly she knew what to do, they were both a little awkward, trying to find a rhythm before they synced together. Somewhere along the way they ended up back on the ground. Laurels arm was starting to go numb from the awkward position of hand, but she didn't want to move just yet. Laurel wasn't cold anymore.

A little while later, they untangled themselves from one another and dusted themselves off. Harry looked at his watch.

"Damn", Harry muttered.

"What", Laurel asked as she playfully nudged him.

"It's past curfew. We're going to have to get back without anyone seeing us", Harry answered as he took out the marauders map. Harry took her hand, and together they made their way back to the tower.

"So, boyfriend", Laurel giggled as they walked came up to the portrait, "Do I get a goodnight kiss", Laurel said as she battered her eyes jokingly.

"Whatever the lady wants, I must oblige", Harry said manly, as he kissed her goodnight.

As they parted ways, Laurel shyly looked at Harry as he walked up to his dorm, laughing quietly as she thought back on the night. She still couldn't believe it.

As she walked into her own dorm, Hermione looked up at her from her bed, raising an eyebrow.

"Where have you been Laurel?" Hermione questioned as she looked Laurel up and down, taking note of her ruffled appearance and swallow lips, not that Laurel was aware of what she looked like.

Laurel giggled as she jumped onto Hermione's bed; not caring about the book that Hermione was reading fell to the floor. Casting a privacy spell around them and drawing the curtains closed Laurel looked at Hermione as she blushed again, thinking back on the night, again.

"Harry asked me to the Yull Ball Hermione!" Laurel shouted. Hermione, completely forgetting about her book and homework, jumped on the bed with her.

"I knew he liked you!" Hermione shouted.

"I know! I can't believe it!" Laurel giggled.

"Tell me everything", Hermione demanded as she gave her her undivided attention. Laurel hugged one of Hermione's pillows to her chest.

"Well I went down to the lake to just think and get some fresh air, and Harry just turned up. And then he asked me about the ball and all the guys that have asked me. And then he admitted he didn't like seeing all those guys asking me. And then he asked me himself, and of course I said yes!" Laurel squeaked out excitedly.

Hermione giggled at her giddy friend.

"And then what. Looks like something happened", Hermione said as she looked her up and down.

Laurel tucked her hair behind her ears. "Well, we were just lying on the ground, and then out of nowhere he kisses me Hermione! Not just a peak on the cheek or lips, but an actual kiss. For real. It was amazing", Laurel finished as her eyes unfocused and she imaged Harry's lips on hers. Hermione snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Earth to laurel", Hermione laughed. "Lust after Harry later".

"Oh right", Laurel shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I just can't believe it Hermione. This is the best night of my life. Did you know Harry is an amazing kisser, not that I have anything to judge by, but still, god, it's like we just knew what to do when our lips met". Laurel sighed happily.

"Soooo", Hermione said.

"Sooo what", Laurel replied back, grinning like an idiot.

"Are you guys together now", Hermione asked, wagging her eye brows.

Laurel nodded, squeaking even more. She really needed to stop but she just couldn't.

Laurel and Hermione slept the rest of the night giggling like idiots and talking about the previous events. When Laurel finally went to bed, it was with a big goofy grin on her face.

 **Authors note**

So I wasn't sure if Harry and Laurel are moving too quickly into being boyfriend and girlfriend, but if I was 14, and had just been kissed I would have taken that as being together. Let me know your thoughts. Stay tuned for more. I'd also like to point out I really need to go back and proof read all my chapters. There are so many spelling errors. It's really quit terrible now many I missed. Please don't let it take away from the story.


	16. The Yull Ball

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

 **Chapter 16**

 **The Yull Ball**

The next day, Laurel woke up to a golden ball of feathers practically dive bombing her.

"Why", Laurel groaned as she tried to shove her face back into her pillow. Piper wouldn't stop though, so giving up, Laurel sat up in her bed and looked at Piper. Piper fluttered onto her shoulder and hummed in her funny way, seeming content now.

"Is that all you wanted you silly creature", Laurel cooed softly to her. It was time to get up anyway for her training with Harry, even if it was earlier than she usually got up for training. Once it started snowing they'd have to stop running outside, but for now the cold weather was also good for training in different conditions. Laurel took her time getting ready today, wanting to look good Harry, her boyfriend! She didn't bother waking Hermione up, she'd meet them later if she wanted to get in some practice. Laurel put on her best exercise clothes, long black thick tights, and a long sleeved black top, paired with a black and white loose jumper. She pulled her hair into a high pony tail, along with a black exercise headband and she was ready. She looked very cute today. Smiling at herself, she eagerly made her way down to the Quidditch pitch, with Piper flying along with her. She didn't seem to be affected by the cold weather much, which was interesting to Laurel.

As Laurel made her way, the teachers nodded at her or waved, having gotten used to her group getting up early to train. It was cold as she walked down to the pitch, her breath coming out in little puffs of cold air, burning her throat slightly. But it would be worse she knew when she started running. It was harder each day to run the laps.

She could see that Harry wasn't there yet, and could guess that Ron wouldn't, it was a 50/50 chance as to whether Harry could wake him up in the colder weather.

Not wanting to sit down, Laurel started to stretch, relaxing into the movements as she went. She was just finishing up when she sat Harry coming, jogging towards her as a warm up.

"Hi Harry," Laurel said shyly as he got closer.

"Hi", Harry said awkwardly as they both felt the tension. It was new for both of them, and they didn't know how to act around each other in this new way.

"Sooo," Laurel started as she blushed.

"Sooo," Harry repeated as he stepped closer to her.

"Have you told anyone? I told Hermione last night", Laurel said as she took his hand.

Harry shrugged, "No, Ron was asleep when I got back last night, and he was sleeping when a left this morning. I figure I'd tell him at breakfast. No doubt everyone will know soon".

Laurel and Harry got into their normal routine, running around the pitch. Laurel had to stop after one today, her lungs were burning from the cold, and her nose was starting to go numb from the wind and cold. She left the track, puffing and walking back towards their small pile of cloaks and her note book as she waited patiently for Harry to finish up. It didn't take too long, since the cold was affecting him as much as it had her.

When he finished he was breathing heavy from the exercise, and wiping sweat from his brow as he crashed down onto the cold grass.

"Nice work", Laurel commented as she passed him a water bottle.

"Thanks," Harry replied breathlessly as he gulped down the water.

"Need a hand", Laurel laughed, noticing his legs not wanting to get up.

"Sure", Harry said playfully as his hand came out to meet her extended one. Without any warning, Harry pulled her down with him, using his superior weight again her. Laurel gasped as she fell forward onto Harry, before he playfully held her down. Laurel laughed as she tried to escape. It was so different seeing Harry act so carefree and playful. It suited him.

"Bloody hell", a voice exclaimed. Laurel stopped her attempt at escaping and looked up. Ron was starring at their bodies pressed together, and Laurel was painfully aware that it wasn't as innocent as it could have been. Hermione was standing next to Ron, a smile playing at her lips as she watched on.

"Hey Ron", Harry said casually as he let her go, and they got up off the ground. Harry brushed his hand through his hair, making it even messier. Laurel rolled her eyes.

"What," Ron spluttered. "Are you two..."

Laurel giggled and held Harry's hand, both nodding.

"When did this happen", Ron questioned, still shocked. Hermione joined in as they laughed.

"Last night," Laurel said as she looked at Harry.

"I would have told you earlier but you were asleep", Harry joked.

"You could have woken me up Harry. I can't believe it. I saw it coming but man, I thought you'd chicken out", Ron exclaimed as he shook his head.

"Sorry mate", Harry joked.

"You guys better not start making out in public is all I'm requesting. Wait. That means you already have a date to the ball!" Ron groaned.

"Oh I'm sorry Ron, did you want to ask Harry", Laurel said, rising one eye brow.

"Shove off", Ron joked. "Now there's more pressure for me to get a date".

"You have heaps of time Ron," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Later that afternoon, as Harry and Laurel walked hand in hand to the great hall after class, with Ron and Hermione walking behind them, they crossed paths with Fred and George. Both spotted Harry's and Laurels hands entwined in a second, and huge cheshsire grins adored their faces. Laurel groaned.

"Well well well Fred. Look what we have here. Do my eyes deceive me or is that our young Harry, holding hands with the beautiful Miss Flamel", one of them said, wagging his eye brows. Laurel would guess that it was George, but you could never be sure, they always swapped names.

"I think your right George. Our Harry's growing up", one of the twins said, holding his hand to his heart and sighing.

"Don't be so dramatic boys", Laurel giggled. One of them came up to her, grabbing her free hand and holding it to his chest. Laurel laughed again.

"Laurel, I can't believe you've been taken. Please, think about us. We could be so good together", he signed dramatically, one hand coming up to his head.

"No! She wants me", the other win said, pushing his brother aside as his hands replaced the others.

"Darlings", Laurel said in a southern accent. "I'm so sorry to cause you such pain, but you see, you weren't quick enough. And my mind is made up", Laurel twanged out as she pressed herself into Harry's side as if she was a damsel in distress.

"Nooo," they cried out together, causing a couple of students to give them odd looks as they walked past the group.

"The lady has spoken", Harry exclaimed, playing as well.

"This is all well and good, but some of us are hungry you know", Ron muttered with a smile.

"Come off it little brother. The food will still be there", Fred or George said.

They continued on, while Fred and George called out after them, still shouting about how hurt they were that Laurel was with Harry.

It seemed like by the end of dinner, everyone knew about Harry and Laurel dating. It seems most of the male population were glaring at Harry in envy, while the females were throwing daggers at Laurel. They both took no notice, neither caring what anyone else thought. At the end of dinner, Laurel and Hermione split up from the boys, heading to the library to get some homework done, while the boys headed off to the common room to work on Harry's egg.

Laurel and Hermione sat at their usual table at the back. Both busy concentrating on their own work, when a throat clearing next to them. Laurel looked up from her textbook, as did Hermione, both looking up at the imposing figure of Victor Krum, surprisingly without a fangirl in sight.

"Ah, excuse me ladies", Krum said in a thick accent. "I was wondering if I could have a word". He was starring right at Hermione.

"Who me?" Hermione asked, confused as she shut her book.

"Yes", Krum replied, looking uncomfortable. Laurel giggled as she watched them walk away, thinking she knew what was about to happen.

Laurel went back to her textbook, but looked up every couple of seconds, waiting for Hermione to return. When she finally did, she was blushing madly, with a big stupid grin on her face. She sat back down and took a deep breath.

"Well!" Laurel exclaimed in a hushed voice, dying to know what happened. So unlike Hermione, Hermione giggled and turned red again.

"You won't believe what just happened", Hermione said quietly as Laurel gave her a look.

"..." Laurel waited for her to continue.

"Krum just asked me to be his date for the Yull Ball. I mean Victor. He asked me to call him Victor", Hermione said excitedly.

"Oh my god", Laurel squeaked as she bounced in her seat, before lending backwards to far, falling down with the chair. Hermione starred at her before laughing.

Laurel crawled up from the ground, and righted the chair before sitting back down with as much dignity as she could.

"This is great! We both have dates for the Yull ball after only one day!"Laurel whispered, as the librarian walked past them, glaring.

"I know. Can you believe it? He said he'd been watching me in the library every day, and wanted to ask me before anyone else", Hermione said as she opened her book back up with a big grin.

"I can't wait now, we are going to look amazing at the ball", laurel gushed out.

Hermione grinned. "Hopefully you can tame my hair", Hermione said, tugging at a lock of brown hair.

"No problem, I have everything we'll need. Trust me", Laurel said reassuringly.

"Ok, but can we maybe keep this between us. I really don't want any attention for going to the ball with Victor", Hermione said.

"That's understandable. Can you image what his fan club would do? You might be attacked in the hallway from a band of crazed girls", Laurel giggled.

"Come to think of it. It could actually happen", Laurel said seriously.

Hermione gave her a look. "You think".

"No seriously. Have you seen some of those girls? Their crazy I tell you", Laurel said in earnest.

"Ok maybe a little but I'm sure they'd get over it", Hermione said seriously.

"Ok then, we'll see how they react on the night" Laurel replied.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Christmas arrived in a whirl of excitement that year. Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now and all the castle was decorated with icicles, trees and baubles. It was more impressive than ever before, since she guessed the teachers wanted the other schools to see how nice their school was.

Laurel had never seen so many people oped out of returning home for the holidays, most of the students stayed for the ball bar the occasional student that had to go home disgustedly by their parents. Laurel had thought very hard on what to get Harry for Christmas, since it had to be special. After searching and searching she'd finally decided on a photo album, and had commissioned Colin Creevy, an overexcited Gryffindor to take pictures of Harry with his familys, the castle, and of all of Harry's friends. Harry had had no idea as to why Colin had been more annoying than usual, and had been surprised when he'd opened up his present. It was better than Laurel could have imaged. There was even one photo of Harry and Laurel together down by the lake, looking at each other before Harry had playfully picked her up and had kissed her. Laurel had asked for a copy of that one, which was resting on her bedside table.

Harry on the other hand, had gotten her a beautiful gold bracelet, with the date that he'd asked her to the ball/asked her to be his girlfriend engraved on the plate of it, which rested perfectly on her wrist. It was simple, but perfect. Laurel loved it, and was never going to take it off. The girls in her dorm had all gushed at the bracelet and how romantic Harry was. Laurel had to agree.

The afternoon on Christmas day, they could all be found wandering around the grounds; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch as Laurel, Harry and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock called out to Laurel to leave, waving her over before they left to get ready for the ball.

"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at them incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head.

"Ummm yeah", Laurel said questioningly as she rubbed her chilled hands together. She had snow all over her coat and boots, but didn't really care since she would be getting out of her cold and soon wet clothes in a few minutes.

"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after Hermione, but she just waved kept walling with Laurel back up to the castle.

First Laurel and Hermione had showers, and along with the Pavarti and Ginny. They'd invited Ginny to get ready with them since she didn't have anyone in her year to get ready with, as well as the fact that Laurel and Pavarti between them had enough hair potions and spells to help both Ginny and Hermione. Once they'd showered Laurel got to work on Hermione's hair, which would take the longest. It took about an hour to get Hermione's hair straight and glossy before Laurel could actually get to work pinning it up.

"Ohh shoot. I forgot to give Ron his robes!" Laurel exclaimed as she accidently pulled Hermione's hair a little too hard.

"Well you better do that now, there's only an hour and a half until we have to be ready" Hermione said as she rubbed at her head. Laurel grabbed the robes from inside her trunk and after making sure her thin dressing gown was securely closed, she dashed out into the common room, hoping to find Ron and Harry.

"Ah there you guys are. Sorry Ron, I forgot about giving you your robes back", Laurel said as she looked at Harry, who was looking at her in her short robe.

"Like what you see their Potter", Laurel winked as Harry flushed at her comment.

Before Harry could reply, Ron had folded out his robes to get a good look at them.

"Amazing! How'd you do this!" Ron spluttered as he looked at his dark blue robes in pleasure. Bree had done a better job than Laurel who ever have done. Not only had she taken out all the older style aspects of the robes, but had changed it into a modern day set of dress robes, and had even somehow changed the fabric which used to have a thick, cheaper look to it, but now looked like it had been bought right of the shelves of a dress shop.

"I had a little help", Laurel admitted as she smiled at him, pleased that he liked the robes.

"Yeah you did great Laurel", Harry said as he also looked over the robes.

"Ok well I'll see you later Harry, Ron", Laurel then dashed back to her dorm to finish up Hermione's hair.

Once Hermione was finally finished, Laurel had to admit she'd done a great job. She didn't let Hermione once see what she'd done, and after almost two hours of work, her hair was finished.

"Oh my god", Hermione exclaimed as Laurel finally let her look in the mirror. Laurel had put her hair up in a curled bun, with a few curled pieces of hair coming down over her shoulder like a waterfall. She looked amazing. Her makeup was done simple, with a very light pink eye shadow to highlight her eyes.

Now that it was Laurels turn, she left Hermione to put her dress on, and started her makeup. She herself went very simple as well, with silver eye shadow to emphasis her blue eyes. She did her hair up in a low bun, with a braid coming in to one side, with loose strands framing her face.

She used a spell to keep her hair in place for the night, and when she deemed herself ready, put her shoes on, and finally her dress. The dress was just as amazing as it had been when she's first tried it on. The colour fit her perfectly. Looking at herself in the mirror for a couple of minutes, Hermione rolled her eyes from her sitting position next to her.

"You sure your ready Laurel", Hermione joked as she watch her.

Studying herself again, Laurel smiled. "Yep".

"Perfect timing, looks like its time for us to meet our dates". All of them were ready now; Ginny looked cute in her dress, which luckily wasn't as bad as Ron's had been. Ginny was meeting Neville down stairs, while Pavarti, Hermione and Laurel were all meeting their dates down at the entrance of the ball. They were all giggling from excitement. Laurel could tell though that Hermione was nervous as everyone finding out who her date was. While Laurel was just hoping that she didn't mess up any of the dance moves, since she as well had to open the ball with Harry as his dance partner. They'd been practicing for about a week now, and they both knew what to do, but to do it in front of everyone was an entirely different situation.

It was almost surreal seeing so many students dressed up; it was a sea of different colours, instead of the usual black school robes. Everywhere Laurel looked, people were chatting excitedly. When they finally arrived outside the entrance hall, Laurel said goodbye to Hermione as they both went to find their dates. She spotted Harry standing next to Ron and Pavarti, who had somehow found run off and found Ron before Laurel even had to chance to say goodbye. Pavarti was already chatting away at the boys, both of who looked like there weren't paying her that much attention, she didn't seem to either care or notice.

"Laurel", Harry greeted as he saw her walking over, he took in her appearance and Laurel swear she saw his eyes glaze over before they came back into focus.

"You look beautiful tonight", Harry stammered as he took her hand.

"And you look very dashing in your robes", Laurel replied as she gave said robes a tug. The green really brought out the colour of his eyes. Harry did look very handsome tonight, Laurel soon many girls eying him off as they walked past.

"Hi," said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd. "Oh no..."

He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. Laurel smiled at the other girl, who noticed her and gave her a small wave. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.

"Where is Hermione?" he said.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them had managed to find a partner.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, with Hermione by his side. You couldn't see her face yet, and Laurel was waiting for Harry and Ron to notice her.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Laurel beamed up at Harry as they walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were standing next to them.

Laurel watched as Krum came forward, and Hermione with him, smiling as she went. She laughed as Harry spotted her, his jaw dropping in shock as he tried to figure out what happened to her.

"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Laurel", Hermione said nervously.

When the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.

Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking towards the dance floor.

The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

As they took their place with the others, Laurel grinned broadly at Hermione at the other side of her. It seemed the rumours were true; the weird sisters had indeed been hired to perform as the ball. Everyone applauded as they came onto the stage. The lanterns dimmed along the tables, while brightening along the dancing area, as everyone stopped talking, all eyes were on the opening of the ball. Cedric nodded and smiled at her from his place across the dance floor.

Harry grabbed her waist lightly, leading her along the dance floor as the music started. Laurels blue eyes met Harry's emerald green, and Laurel could barely focus on the dance as they looked at each other. And then it was over, it had flown by so fast that Laurel could barely believe it had happened. They were both breathing a little heavier than usual as they bowed to each other. Now that the first dance was over, others joined in on the floor, and a different song started playing. Laurel and Harry stayed on the dance floor, content to just stay there, as did the other champions and their dates. Laurel looked around until she found Hermione, who was having a great time with Krum. Their eyes met and they both grinned at each other over the crowd.

Once the song finished, they decided to go and get a drink. They found Ron at one of the tables, with Pavarti sitting next to him looking very displeased. Hermione and Krum joined them for a while before they left again to hit the dance floor.

"Come on Harry, let's go for a walk", Laurel said as she led him outside. There were a few others lingering out in the night air, but as they kept walking they came across fewer and fewer people. Fairies lit the path, glowing brightly in the bushes. It was quit cold outside, and seeing Laurel shiver, Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders, while Laurel curled into his side. They found a bench after a few minutes of walking and stayed there was a while, talking, joking, and just becoming more familiar with each other together. And then Harry was caressing her face, and his hand was moving to her waist. Laurel pressed herself closer to him, and their lips met, ever so gently. It was slow, and heated with passion as they moved together, more in sync than they had been the first time they'd made out. Laurel couldn't get enough of him, the way they moved together, and explored this new found relationship. It was amazing.

When they finally pulled apart, they were both breathless and Laurel snuggled back into Harry's arms, never wanting to leave. It was a perfect night.

Once they were back inside, they found Hermione and Krum, and both the girls dragged their partners off to dance again. Now that it was getting later, the weird sisters had started playing more upbeat music from their new album. The teachers and judges opted out of dancing with the new music, and let the younger crowd take over. The spent the rest of the night dancing. Laurel and Hermione swapped partners for a round, and Laurel found herself being glared at by Krum's fan club. Hermione though was probably in the same boat.

At one point, Laurel and Harry had tried to get Ron to come dance with Pavarti, but he was in a foul mood as he watched Hermione with Krum. Laurel really didn't think that was fair. Ron had practically insulted Hermione asking her to be his date as a last resort, and now he was glaring daggers at Krum for dating her first. Laurel soon forgot about Ron though as she went back to dancing with Harry. They had started using silly dance moves by now, not caring about how they looked. By the end of the night she had danced with Krum, Cedric, Fred, George, Neville and then back to Harry as the last note rang across the hall, signaling the end of the ball. Before they left, they got more drinks, all of them breathless from dancing all night. Laurel and Harry left Hermione to say goodnight to Krum by herself, Laurel wagging her eyebrows suggestively as Hermione blushed scarlet red before walking off hand and hand with Krum towards the gardens.

"I had a great night Harry", Laurel spoke as they walked back to their common room. Laurel sighed, would any other night be just as perfect as tonight.

"So did I Laurel", Harry said as they stopped just outside the portrait.

"Is it too corny to say it, but I don't want this night to ever end", Laurel said sadly.

"This is just the beginning," Harry whispered as he rubbed his thumb along her wrist, sending butterflies to her stomach.

"I know. But tonight was just so..." Laurel said, not finishing her sentence as she reflected back.

"I know what you mean. But it can only get better for us", Harry muttered romantically as he kissed her goodnight. Laurel melted into his kiss, her body responding automatically as he ran his hand along her side, while she ran her through his hair.


	17. Mulling it Over

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Happy new year everyone! Just got this finished before I had work. I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Feel free to review and let me know what you think, or any idea's you have. I'd love to hear requests for scenes with Harry and Laurel.

Enjoy.

~Briane94

 **Chapter 17**

 **Mulling things over**

Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Laurel was dead to the world; she didn't get up for training, missing it completely as she snuggled back into her warm bed. She didn't see how they could train anyway with all the snow now blanketing the grounds. With that excuse, she didn't get up for another three hours or so.

Around 11, Laurel finally got up and headed down to get breakfast/lunch. She was very casually dressed in jeans, black boots, and a dark blue sweater. Piper flew next to her, humming about as she zoomed ahead and then flying back every so often.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all sitting down together at the Gryffindor table, and looked up as she approaches. Harry smiled up at her and grabbed her hand as she sat next to him. Laurel gave him a smile. Ron and Hermione greeted her like normal, but fell silent as Harry and Laurel started talking.

"What's up with them?" Laurel muttered quietly at Harry as she looked at Hermione and Ron, both quietly eating their food, looking at everything but each other.

"Mental. I'll tell you later", Harry replied. Laurel finished up her lunch and then she and Harry left the awkwardness that was sitting next to them, hoping that they'd sort it out for themselves.

"Come on, let's go for a walk", Laurel said as she pulled Harry over to the courtyard, through which was an exit. One day Laurel decided she wanted to count every door to the castle grounds, just because there seemed to be so many. Laurel was still wearing her bracelet, the one Harry had given her, and it shined in the morning sun on her wrist. Harry playfully pulled at it.

"You're still wearing it", he said, pleased.

"Of course I am Harry", Laurel said as she swapped at his hand. "I love it". She smiled up at Harry as they continued; thinking she never wanted anyone else, just Harry.

They did a lap around the great lake, just casually walking around to nowhere in particular, when they saw someone walking down towards them. Odd, Laurel thought, maybe its Ron or Hermione. They continued walking, but slower now, so that the person could catch up to them.

When they got closer, Laurel realised it was Cedric.

"That's weird, I wonder why Cedric's coming down here", Laurel said to Harry, who shrugged in replied.

"Hey Cedric," Laurel waved as he got closer. Ever so slightly Harry's hand in hers tightened a little, and Laurel giggled.

"Are you jealous Harry", Laurel whispered into his ear.

"Not one bit", Harry smirked, squeezing her hand.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt", Cedric said, looking at their entwined hands. Laurel giggled.

"It's quit alright. What's up Cedric", Laurel asked in curiously.

"Well, actually. I wanted to have a word with Harry", Cedric said, pointedly looking at him.

"You can tell Laurel to. Its fine", Harry said, not letting go of her hand. Laurel smiled.

"Well ok. I just wanted to thank you for your tip with the dragon. It really saved me out there. I wanted to return the flavour", Cedric said sheepishly as he ran a hair through his hair.

"You really don't have to", Harry said.

"No I do. I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"Cedric asked.

"Yeah", Harry said, rising an eyebrow.

"Well...take a bath, okay?"

"What?"

"Take a bath, and - er - take the egg with you, and - er - just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think...Trust me."

Harry stared at him. Laurel watched the exchange, thinking.

"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.'

"Thanks Cedric", Harry muttered, thinking on what he'd just said.

When he was out of hearing distance, Harry looked at her. "What do you think that means?"

"I don't know Harry. But come on! We have to go try it. Cedric wouldn't be lying. We can solve this!" Laurel said excitedly. They only had until February the twenty fourth, just less than two months to prepare.

Laurel practically ran back to her dorm to get her bikini, she knew she packed it somewhere! When she finally found it, her bed was a mess of clothes and books, but she'd clean it up later. She quickly put her bikini on, and put her clothes on after it before meeting Harry in the common room. He had his school bag with him, to hide the fact that he was carrying the egg with him.

"Where are you two off to?" Hermione asked as she looked up from her book.

"Oh yeah Hermione", Harry said awkwardly.

"Just something to do with the egg", Laurel answered.

"But I thought you said you'd already just about had it Harry", Hermione shot at Harry.

"Well, I wasn't far off", Harry said, defending himself.

"Come off it Harry. You had I idea what the egg means", Ron said, agreeing with Hermione.

"Well hopefully he will after today", Laurel said brightly as she pulled Harry away towards the bathrooms.

When they reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, Harry located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Cedric had told him to.

The door creaked open and they walked in.

Laurel fell in love with the bathroom instantly. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pools edges, each with a differently coloured jewels set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.

"Wow", Harry said as he looked around.

"This is so cool", Laurel said as she walked over to the tapes. Harry walked over and grabbed some towels for them while Laurel found the water tape and turned it. Warm water burst through the tap, a perfect temperature.

Harry sat the egg at the edge of the bath as they watched the pool fill up quicker than they thought was possible. Laurel pulled her outer clothes off, very aware of the fact that this was the first time Harry had seen so much of her skin as her boyfriend. She was pleased when he turned and looked as her, blushing as he looked at her in her dark blue bikini.

"This would be a great place for a pool party", Laurel said vaguely as she dipped her feet into the pool, before sliding her whole body in. She couldn't touch the bottom, so she treaded water as she watched Harry get in. She had to admit she was checking him out. His body was more defined than it had been over the summer; lean muscles making him look even better looking than usual.

"Like what you see", Harry flirted as he saw her looking at him. Laurel swam over to him.

"Maybe", Laurel said as she swam around him and hugged him from the back of his shoulders, and kissing him on the shoulder. Laurel pulled herself away and swam over to where the egg was resting, Harry followed her.

"Wonder what we should do?" Harry said cluelessly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Laurel said smartly.

Harry looked at her in surprise.

"No".

"We have to open it under the water", Laurel said smugly.

"What would I do without you", Harry said.

"Implode", Laurel said as she splashed him.

Harry picked up the egg, and lowered it into the water. Laurel watched on in curiously. Harry slowly opened it, and it didn't wail! A gurgling song was coming out of it, but they couldn't made it out. Laurel and Harry looked at each other excitedly.

"Let's go under and listen", Laurel said, both of them taking deep breathes before going under the surface. They sat down on the marble bottom of the bath, and Laurel heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to them from the open egg in Harry's hands:

"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you researching, ponder this:  
Wove taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
And to recover what we took,  
But past an hour- the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone, it wont come back"

They both came up for air. Laurel pulled her wet hair away from her face.

"Oh my god. Harry! This is it. These are instructions on what the second task is!" Laurel exclaimed.

"Cedric was right. This is brilliant! I can do this", Harry shouted, excited at finally working out the egg.

"Come on lets here it again", Laurel said. They listened to the song another two times, before Harry grabbed a quill and some parchment from his page and they wrote it down.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground", Harry said. "Who could have be. So I have to find these people".

"Um Harry?" Laurel said, giving his a funny look.

"Yeah," he said, looking up from the poem.

"Merpeople, I believe you're looking for", Laurel said, while Harry looked at her dumbfounded.

"Thats it, isn't it?" said Harry excitedly. "The second task's to go and find the merpeople in the lake and...and..."

"And somehow find a way to hold your breath underwater", Laurel said, thinking.

"Thats impossible", Harry said.

"It can't be Harry, if they've set it up as the task. This is just really advanced magic. We haven't learnt anything to this extent before. It must be seventh year material or above", Laurel said. She'd never heard any reference to breathing underwater before.

"We'll figure it out. We still have time", Laurel said.

"Ok, it is doable. So it sounds like they're going to steal something from me. We've taken what you'll sorely miss. Mmm".

"I wonder what they're going to steal. It's not like they had walk up to the castle and grab something of yours", Laurel joked, giddy from having solved the egg.

"No idea. I'll have to start researching right away. We're one step closer to getting through this", Harry said excitedly, as he grabbed the egg still at the bottom of the bath and put it up safely with the parchment.

"Now that that's done, let's have some fun", Laurel said as she moved over to turn on one of the taps. They spent the next hour having fun, turning on all the taps and watching as different things came out of them. By the time they finished there were bubbles, foam, perfume, and different coloured water all swirling around the huge bath, creating one big splash of colour that would be any child's dream.

Once they dried off, Harry collected all his stuff and they got dressed, they both smelled like they'd bathed in a drum of perfume, which they kind of just did.

They'd just opened the door up to exist when they stepped out and came face to face with the worst teach possible to find them. Snape.

"Well well well. What do we have here? To students who are obviously not prefects using the prefects bathrooms", Professor Snape said darkly as he took in their untidy appearance. Laurel especially still had wet hair which was in a messy bun against the back of her neck.

"Oh oh", Laurel said, looking at Harry with a grimace.

"Oh oh indeed Miss Flamel", Professor Snape said snidely. "Usually when I find a student out of bounds I'd give them detention. For a week. But considering the implications of finding two students of the opposite sex, I believe we'll have to take a scroll to see your head of house. Follow me".

Laurel and Harry quietly walked behind the professor. Harry held her hand and circled his thumb against her skin, comforting her. Laurel had never really been into trouble before, especially in a situation that looked bad. Finding two students who were going out, walking out of an out of bounds bathroom together did not look good. They'd probably write a letter to her mother! And she hadn't even told her yet that her and Harry when going out. She would be so angry finding out this way. But they hadn't even done anything. It was mostly innocent; they'd worked out the egg together. Surely Professor McGonagall would understand. But then champions weren't meant to get help from others. Not that Laurel had helped much, Harry would have figured it out himself, she'd just put the pieces together for it faster.

Professor Snape didn't look back as he walked, knowing they wouldn't run. He knocked on the door of Professor McGonagall's door once, before a crisp 'enter' came from the other side of the door. Laurel gulped.

Sitting at her desk, Professor McGonagall looked up from her grading, surprised to see two of her favourite students looking glum.

"Professor Snape, what is the meaning of this", The transfiguration professor said as she waved her hand towards Laurel and Harry.

"I caught them leaving the prefects bathroom together. Very compromising position", Professor Snape said smugly.

Professor McGonagall looked at Laurel. "Is this true", her favourite teacher asked her.

"Yes Professor McGonagall," Laurel said seriously.

"Professor. Can I add something, before you jump to conclusions", Harry asked politely. Professor McGonagall looked surprised at how serious her two students were taking this and nodded sternly.

"We weren't doing anything. I was solving my egg", Harry said as he pulled it out of his bag.

"Did you know this," their head of house asked Professor Snape.

"No. What does it matter", he said cruelly as his face darkened.

"It matters a lot actually. It's clear they were only working on the egg", Professor McGonagall said as she looked at them.

"Yet they were still out of bounds. Using a bathroom for Prefects", the potions master said in distaste.

"Ah yes, how did you even get in there?" McGonagall asked.

"Well, um, Cedric said I could use it, he gave me the password Professor", Harry said awkwardly. Laurel really hoped Cedric wouldn't get into trouble.

"Well there you go. A prefect let them use it. That isn't against the rules. Thank you Professor for bringing this to my attention. Now I just want a moment alone with my students", Professor McGonagall said sternly, while Snape left without a backwards glance.

"So, you solved the egg then", she said when the door was closed, completely changing the topic, her face impressed as she looked at them.

"We did", Harry said happily as he gazed at Laurel, who smiled back.

"Harry still has some things to work out. But we'll figure it out", Laurel said.

"Good, I'm glad you're taking this seriously Potter. And it's good to see you getting help from your friends. They are your best assets. Just don't get caught again please. That could have turned out worst if you didn't have proof that you were indeed studying. Now off you go", Professor McGonagall said seriously before motioning them to leave.

"Thank you Professor," Laurel said before they walked out.

"Close call", Harry sighed.

"I know. Can you believe how lucky we were? I thought they would have given us detention at the least", Laurel giggled.

"Now we have work to do Potter. To the library!" Laurel exclaimed while Harry groaned beside her.

.


	18. The Second Task

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

 **Chapter 18**

 **The Second Task**

The next few weeks flew by as Laurel, Ron, Hermione and Harry all worked together to help Harry figure out how to complete the second task. Night and day they studied for the first couple of weeks, trying to find some mention of any potions, spells or ways to hold your breath underwater for an hour. Laurel and Hermione dictated the reading material for them all, organising the books from most likely to have a reference in it to unlikely. Both Laurel and Hermione were positive that they'd find something, but after a week of research, both girls started to get frazzled and frantic as they still couldn't figure out anything to help them.

It was only by sheer luck that Laurel mentioned it to Neville the next morning that they found out a way to hold your breath underwater.

~Flaskback~

Laurel had completely forgotten that she was supposed to meet up with Neville that morning as she frantically got dressed, not even brushing her hair as she ran down to the common room, her eyes scanning the room for Neville. She'd overslept, having stayed up all night again reading, trying to find any mention of breathing underwater. Yet again she had fallen asleep with nothing to show for her work. She couldn't stand not being able to help Harry, who kept telling her to slow down, that they'd figure it out. But Laurel couldn't stop worrying. After her excitement and relief of figuring out the egg, Laurel had thought this would be the easy. She was mistaken. It seemed impossible that there was no nothing on breathing underwater.

"Ah Neville. I'm so sorry I'm late", Laurel said breathlessly, as she tried to catch her breath.

Neville smiled at her kindly, "That's alright Laurel, you alright?"

"Kind of. Just busy. You know, trying to help Harry", Laurel said quietly as they walked out into the corridor.

"You seem a little tired, you sure you're up for today", Neville questioned her, looked at her messy appearance.

"I'm fine", Laurel said as she ran a hand through her hair. "It's just really frustrating when I can't figure out one stupid thing. This task looks impossible Neville. It really does". She sighed.

"You need any help? I know I'm not the best student but another set of eyes might help", Neville said calmed. That's one thing Laurel really liked about Neville, he was always kind enough to offer to help, even when he didn't know what he would be offering to do.

"Well if you wanted I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind. See we're trying to figure out a way for Harry to hold his breath underwater for an hour", Laurel explained, calmed than she had been before.

Neville stopped and looked at her, "Is that all you're looking for?" Laurel gave him a funny look.

"Yeah? Hermione and I have been searching through the library all week. Nothing", Laurel said in annoyance.

"Laurel", Neville said as he stopped, Laurel stopped and looked at him in confusion.

"I think I know what you're looking for", he explained. "Gillyweed. It has properties that allow humans to breathe underwater for around an hour at a time. Professor Sprout actually has some stored in one of her private store rooms, but I'm sure if we asked she'd let Harry use some".

Laurel looked at her friend in shock before jumped at him and hugging him.

"Neville you're a genius. You're sure this stuff works", Laurel asked.

"Well I've never tested it myself, but I can loan you one of the books I have on it, Professor Moody let me borrow it, but I'm sure he won't mind if you borrow it".

"You're the best Neville! I can't you had the answer all along. Unbelievable", Laurel said excitedly, now completely bouncing on her feet as she beamed up at him.

"It's no problem", Neville blushed, looking away in embarrassment.

"I'm really sorry to do this Neville, can I cancel today's session. I really want to go and tell the others" Laurel said eagerly.

"Sure thing. You can grab that book that mentions it; it should be on my bed, called Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean".

"Thanks again Neville. You've saved us so much time! I'll see you later alright", Laurel called as she raced back up to the common room.

~End Flashback~

Currently, Harry had asked Professor Sprout for some Gillyweed and she had let him have enough to use for the tournament. Harry had been a little disappointed that he only had enough for one use, he had wanted to test it out beforehand but there wasn't enough time to go and find anymore, since it would take weeks if not more to order it, that's if any places actually had it to sell. So they just had to try and prepare Harry as much as possible for it without using the Gillyweed. They began researching different creatures that lived in the lake, and ways to fight any of them off if they so happened to come around Harry and attacked him. There were many dangerous creatures that lived there; most of them lived deep under the water, unlike the giant squid that could be usually found at the surface of the lake. At least they knew the squid was friendly. It's sheer size was enough to make anyone hesitant to come across it.

With only a couple of days left, Laurel, Harry, Ron and Hermione all walked down to care of magical creatures in a good mood. They were confident Harry would get through this. Even Harry was starting to cheer up, he was eating again, and in a good mood as he walked hand in hand with Laurel.

Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.

Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them. Laurel looked at them in awe, just as excited as Parvati and Lavender as she gazed at the adoreable foals.

"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies...don' mind boys so much...C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want...give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps...

Laurel walked over slowly with the rest of the class as Hagrid pulled Harry aside. Laurel came up slowly as she petted one of the foals, but both seemed to want all of her attention. Laurel smiled and cooed at them, giving them both a sugar cube as she ran a hand down each of them golden soft coats. The other students were groaning in annoyance as the foals stuck to Laurel. Even Hermione was a little annoyed that the foals only wanted attention from her. Laurel just shrugged her shoulders at Hermione not sorry as all, as she went back to playing with them. Laurel couldn't help it if animals loved her. After a while Laurel stepped back and let others have a turn, but the foals just whinnied and trotted back over to Laurel.

"Ye have a gift Laurel", Hagrid said as he watched the unicorns snort and shake their heads at Laurel for leaving.

"You two are just too adorable", Laurel giggled as one of the foals licked her face.

"How come they like Laurel so much", Lavender said in annoyance as she glared at Laurel.

"Unicorns like females, especially ones that they can sense have pure hearts, or so myth says. But I think Laurel just has a natural affinity to animals", Hermione shoot back.

Laurel smiled as Harry came up to her and petted the foals as well. They didn't have a problem with Harry and playfully nudged him with their heads. It was Laurels favourite class ever and when she told Hagrid he look at her and blushed before composing himself.

"How long are you gonna keep them here?" Laurel asked.

"Donno, probably let em out after me next class. Dont wana keep em here to long", Hagrid said thickly.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

By the evening of the second task, they'd prepared enough, but not wanting to relax, they all stayed in the library that night after dinner, trying to get some last minute practice in before the next day. Laurel had to admit they weren't doing much. Harry and she were sitting close together, Laurel resting her head on Harry's chest as he skimmed his notes on all the creatures that lives in the lake. Laurel wasn't even pretending to work as she tiredly relaxed at Harry's side, the last month catching up with her. Hermione and Ron weren't doing much either. Ron was stacking books up to see how high he could get them before they toppled over, while Hermione was lazily quizzing herself and sometimes Harry on spells.

Laurel had fallen asleep at some point on Harry's chest, and was gently shaken awake by Harry as she lifted her head up from his shoulder and yawned as she stretched out her back.

"Time to leave already", Laurel said sleepily as she looked at Harry.

Harry shook his head. "No, apparently McGonagall wants to see you and Hermione", Harry said as he looked at Fred and George, who had just pushed Ron over, causing him to land in his stack of books, which toppled over finally. The noise was enough to make them all wince and grab their things before Madam Pince came over to yell at them.

When all made it out Laurel looked at Fred and George in confusion.

"Why does Professor McGonagall want to see Hermione and me?" Laurel asked them.

"Why?" Hermione said at the same time, looking surprised.

"Dunno...she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred.

"We're supposed to take you's down to her office," said George.

"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry and Ron.

"I guess we should go then", Laurel said as she looked at Hermione, who nodded.

"Bye guys", Laurel waved as they left with the twins.

"I hope this doesn't take too long," Hermione fretted. "It's almost curfew".

"I'm sure she'll give us a pass if we need it Hermione", Laurel said casually as they walked off to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Wonder what you ladies did", Fred grinned as they walked in front of them.

Laurel was wondering the same thing. What would McGonagall want with them? Unless they were going to get into trouble for helping Harry, but then Ron had helped as well, so why wasn't he here to? It didn't make sense.

When they arrived at McGonagall's office, the place was already filled with people.

Dumbledore stood next to McGonagall who was sitting at her desk, looking sterner than usual. Karkaroff and madam Maxime were also there, standing there, standing next to Ludo Bagman and Percy Weasley, who was looking very proud and smug to be there. Sitting down on the position side of McGonagall's desk was Cho Chang, and a little girl with blonde hair.

"Sit down please, Miss Granger, Miss Flamel", McGonagall said to them. "Thank you Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley, you may leave now".

The twins waved at them goodbye, curiously looking at then one last time before they left. Laurel sat down next to Cho, while Hermione sat next to Laurel.

"Now that you're all here we can explain", Ludo Bagman said excitedly as he came up to stand on the other side of McGonagall's desk.

"Now you don't know this. But each of you has been chosen specifically because of your connect to one of the champions. And with your permission, we would ask if you'd all be willing to take part in this task".

Laurel looked at Hermione and realised that what Ludo meant. There were the objects that were stolen by the merpeople and she was what Harry was going to have to get back. Cho was obliviously Cedric's person, while Hermione was Krums, and the little girl must be Fleurs.

Dumbledore continued on from Bagman. "Now for the task the champions will have an hour to retrieve something they will miss. For Miss Delacour that would be her little sister Gabriella", Dumbledore said, is eyes twinkling as the little girl giggled shyly. "For Mr Krum, that would be Miss Granger," Hermione blushed beside Laurel. "For Mr Diggory, Miss Chang", Cho smiled embarrassingly, "and lastly, for Mr Potter, Miss Flamel", Laurel flushed as everyone looked at her.

"Let me assure you that you are in no danger in this task", Dumbledore explained. "Each of you will be placed in a static state, and placed at the bottom of the lake, guarded by the merpeople who will make sure no harm comes to any of you".

Laurel listened in excitement. It sounded like really advanced magic, being put into a static condition, whereby you wouldn't drown or die from the cold in the water. Laurel looked at Hermione, who was deep in thought thinking about the task. They were all made to a sign a permission form before anything else and once that was done they were each given a bottle of a dark blue potion. Laurel didn't recognise it.

"Now this potion, once you drink it, will automatically take effect, and you will lose consciousness. You will only regain consciousness once your head in above the water", Dumbledore explained.

"Professor?" Hermione asked timidly as everyone looked at her.

"Yes Miss Granger," Dumbledore said as everyone looked at her.

"Are there any risks involved with the potion?"

"I can assure you Miss Granger that there are none", Dumbledore said.

"But what if our champion doesn't get to us in time?" Laurel spoke up.

"Then we'll retrieve you once the task is over", Dumbledore explained. Laurel nodded.

Once all their questions were answered, each of them was told to drink the potion while lying down on a stretcher. Laurel watched at each people was made to drink the entire potion, before it was lastly her turn. She took one last breath to relax, before she lifted the vial to her mouth, the taste hitting her tongue, it wasn't unpleasant, and it tasted in between apples and a sour kind of earthliness that Laurel couldn't explain. Within a few seconds she was lost to the outside world.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

With a jolt, Laurel gasped for air, as she splattered and looked around, disorientated. She was so cold, the water around her was freezing, and she could barely keep her head above the water as her clothes dragged her down.

"Laurel, it's alright. I've got you", Harry said, trying to calm her down. His arm was around her shoulders, trying to keep her above the water as he swam with her to a dock. Laurel nodded as she focused on swimming with Harry. She was overwhelmed with everything. People were screaming and cheering, shouting things that Laurel couldn't made out.

When they got close enough, Laurel saw people waiting for them down at the dock. Dumbledore was beaming down at Harry, along with Bagman, Professor Moody, as well as an irate looking madam Pomfrey. They were only a few meters away when Laurel felt something brush against her leg. Her foot jolted from the contact as she shielded away from the unknown touch. Harry must have seen her expression, as he pulled her forward towards the waiting crows, when the alien touch came back, and something cold and bony wrapped itself against her ankle.

Before she could say anything, she was dragged under the water. She screamed and struggled as something pulled her down more. She twisted and kicked, trying to free herself as the creature gave her another painful jerk down. She didn't know how far down she was, but it was colder now, and she was quickly running out of breathe as she panicked and struck out, hitting the creature. There was a hissing sound as the creature let go of her leg, and lashed out with its claws, ranking three long gashes along her stomach, cutting into the fabric there. Blood seeped into the water, seeming to excite the creature as in tried to grab her again. Laurel tried to fight it again, but it was so dark and cold, she couldn't breathe! Her throat burned, needing oxygen.

And then Harry was there, his wand out, as he looked angrier than she had ever seen him. She wasn't paying attention now, as little bubbles started to come out of her nose and mouth. She didn't know how, but she was suddenly above the surface, spluttering and coughing madly as she tried to catch her breath. Harry was holding her up now, fully supporting her body as he tried to swim them back to the safety of the teachers. But Laurel didn't know this as she was to busy trying to breath. She vaguely heard harry talking to her, but it was all a blur to her. She was cold, so cold now. The claw marks over her stomach were numb now though, but still bleeding as she was hurled up onto the dock finally. Harry was then pulled and was right by her side as madam Pomfrey rushed to her side, followed by Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.

A blanket was wrapped around her tightly, as the nurse quickly made everyone back away as she looked Laurel over. She was still spluttering, and when Madam Pomfrey cast an unknown spell on her, Laurel coughed violently as all the water she'd swallowed came up. But she could breathe again and sagged in relief against Harry, who was sitting behind her, holding her against his chest. They were both freezing and shivering now.

"Stupid idea. Knew this would happen but no", the nurse was muttering angrily as she handed them both pepper up potion. Instantly after swallowing the potion in one hit, Laurel was warmed up, her shivering stopped and she could focus on what was happening. As she warmed up, her stomach flared up as Laurel hissed in pain and shrugged the blanket off.

"Laurel what's wrong", Harry asked as she revealed the cuts on her stomach, there was blood all over her clothes. Harry gasped.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry yelled as Laurel looked down as her stomach, feeling sick as she saw all the blood. The nurse came running back, well not really running back since she had only taken two steps away to grab some more potions.

"Laurel", Harry said as everyone looked at her, again.

"It's not that bad", Laurel groaned out, as the nurse lifted her top up. Laurel would have been embarrassed if she wasn't in so much pain.

"You're alright Laurel; it'll only take a second to heal. Just stay still for me, that's it", the nurse spoke kindly as she waved her wand in a complicated pattern, and in seconds her stomach was fine, and she signed in relief. She was forced to drink another three potions, and by the time the next champion had surfaced, she was feeling much better.

Laurel and Harry stayed where they were, wrapped up together; Laurel was resting her head against Harry's shoulder, her favourite spot. While he wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed against him as they watched the rest of the task together.

Cedric was next, only a minute or so outside the time limit.

Krum came up next with Hermione. Laurel and Harry watched as Krum pulled Hermione up and Hermione came running over after she'd been checked out by the nurse.

"You came first Harry!" Hermione cried as she hugged Harry, making him grunt and joist Laurel.

But Fleur never retrieved her hostage. She herself had been rescued after sending out distress sparks and was in tears after finding out that her little sister was still down there. Once her sister had been retrieved and she'd calmed down, the judges were ready to announce the results.

Laurel listened, content next to Harry as they sat together, still on the dock.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was third to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was second to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He was the only champion to arrive in the one hour mark, and showed exceptional bravery and merit when rescuing Miss Flamel from a grindylow attack when approaching the dock, and for that, we award Harry Potter 50 points!"

The crowd went wild again. Hermione and Cedric were looking at Laurel in shock, not knowing that she had been attacked. Laurel gave them both smiles to saw she was alright.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

It was over. Harry had done it once again and was on top.

"You're still in the led Harry!" Ron shouted as he came over.

"It was pretty scary there for a minute though, when Laurel got pulled under", Ron said seriously. Laurel shivered, but not from the cold.

Laurel and Harry walked quietly back up to the castle, as usual hand in hand. Ron and Hermione were ahead of them, giving them space.

"I never said thank you Harry. For saving me from the grindylow", Laurel said quietly as she stopped just outside the castle. No one else was around, everyone had already headed back up, they were alone.

"You don't have to thank me Laurel", Harry muttered as he gazed at her tenderly, stroking her face.

"I just...I wanted you to know, I was so scared, I couldn't breathe, and then you were there Harry", Laurel looked at him, her eyes tearing up. Harry wiped away a tear that fell down her face.

"I'd never leave you", Harry said softly. And then Laurel threw her arms around Harry, and kissed his passionately, giving away all her previous fear from that dark cold lake as her lips moved with Harry's.

 **Authors note**

I know I used the plot from the movies about the gillyweed, but I liked it better. And again yay Harry won! Cause he's awesome. And they are soooo cute together. I feel like I've ended the last three chapters with them kissing, but I can't help it.

I'm really excited about the next chapter. Plot twist. Hehe. Stay tuned to find out.


	19. A Revelation

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

This chapter was exciting for me to write. Ok some of its kinda boring but the ending is hopefully exciting.

I'd also like to thank Lorien Legacy for your last two reviews I'm glad you like the story.

 **Chapter 19**

 **A Revelation**

The aftermaths of the second task created a lot of attention for Harry and Laurel. All the Gryffindors wanted a retelling of how Harry had bravely dived back into the water, never mind the fact that there were teachers, qualified witches and wizards who could have jumped in to save her. This had been a rather annoying occurrence, as Harry and Laurel didn't like to talk about her near drowning. I few times Harry had to tell students to bugger off, which caused Laurel to giggle, while Ron and Hermione watched in exasperation.

Hermione was also getting a lot of attention. But manly from being the one thing that Krum would miss the most. Everyone knew that Laurel and Harry had been friends for years, and then had started dating. But for Hermione, who barely knew Krum, it was mostly teasing. She was not in a good mood and spent most of her free time in the library or studying in the dorm room.

As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again. Laurel had tried to get the owl to come back and eat, but it had already flown off.

Harry read it the letter.

Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously. Laurel and Hermione looked at Harry in shock.

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.

"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught..."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."

"He must know what he's doing Harry. He knows the area", Laurel said comfortingly.

Later that night, Laurel was quietly studying by herself in her dorm room. Piper was nested next to her on the bed, having made a sort of burrow in the blankets. Hermione was in the library, while Harry and Ron when down in the common room finishing up their homework, so Laurel had decided to have a quiet night to herself. She wasn't focusing on school work but looking into spells and charms to add to her notebook. It was something she loved doing. Making a list of all the spells she wanted to learn at some point. Some she'd mark with a star, indicating she thought they would be useful and others she'd mark with a tick, indicating she'd learnt the spell. It was fun work, and as she went through her list she would try out some of the spells as she sat cross legged on her bed. She came across the patronus charm. Harry had already learnt it last year, and Laurel had been jealous of the fact that he'd mastered such an advanced spell. But maybe it was time for her to practice it and surprise him when it when she achieved it.

Decided, she grabbed her wand in her right hand and took a deep breath before trying to find a memory to use. It couldn't be just any happy memory. It only took her a moment to decide on one, the first night she's spent with Harry outside when he'd asked her to the Yull Ball. Just thinking about it sent her heart fluttering.

Focusing, she readied herself, and spoke clearly, but not too loudly, "expecto patronum". A thin wisp of silver came out of her wand, but it wasn't a corporeal patronus. Disappointed, Laurel tried again, and again. It was tiring work, mentally having to focus on the spell and memory. It was even harder when casting it in the presence of a dementor. Getting frustrated at her lack of success, Laurel stopped and sighed, while Piper chirped at her. She flopped down on her back onto the bed, tired. Forgetting that her textbook was at the edge of the bed, she heard a soft thud as it fell to the ground, pushed from her movement. Groaning, Laurel rolled over onto her stomach and crawled to the edge of the bed, looking down.

It always felt weird when she looked down with her head and shoulders off the bed, like vertigo, but not with highs. Like gravity wanted her back on something solid. She could already feel herself getting a headache and quickly reached out to grab the book. But then something strange happened. Her hand went straight through the book. Puzzled, Laurel tried again, but her hand went straight through it again.

"What the hell", Laurel muttered to herself. On her third attempt, she was able to pick up the book. She looked at the textbook as if something was wrong with it. But couldn't find anything. It seemed like whatever had caused her hand to go through the book had stopped. It was so weird, Laurel thought to herself as she placed the book inside her trunk, before giving it one last suspicious look.

By the time Laurel went to bed, the only think she could think of to cause the book to go through her hand was that there was some sort of spell on it. Maybe it was even a prank or something that the twins had thought would be funny. Not having a real answer, Laurel pushed it to the back of her mind, and went to bed.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next day they left at noon to go meet Sirius. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all four of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food that Sirius had asked for was in Laurels small bag that she had under her shoulder. It was one with an extension charm on it and a feather light charm. Laurel and Harry had snuck into the kitchen and had grabbed a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, a few flasks of pumpkin juice and then Laurel had asked for a few things that wouldn't go off as quickly. Things like fruit, biscuits, anything that would last more than a couple of days that they could find. Hopefully it was enough to last Sirius a week or so.

They were still early to meet with Sirius so they decided to stop and have a look around the town. And at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.

They walked away from the shops, and more towards the mountains and houses where people lives in the village. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar...

"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him. Laurel had a sudden urge to pet Sirius but ignored it.

The black dog sniffed around Harry before coming up to Laurel and sniffed at her bag, wagging his tail and then turned and to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed over the stile and followed.

Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. Laurel was huffing and puffing along with everyone else. They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun.

Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. Half gray horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All four of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Laurel and Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Harry, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into his godfather.

Sirius was wearing the same robes Laurel had given him at Harry's birthday party. Laurel felt empathy well up inside her chest at the man that was Harry's only living family member. He looked very thin.

"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor. Laurel handed Harry her bag silently as he pulled out the chicken and break loaf.

"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."

He grinned up at Harry, but Harry returned the grin only reluctantly.

"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.

"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray."

He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Harry's face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter...well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius.

"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

"You four and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.

Ron nudged Harry and passed him the Daily Prophets. Laurel looked on in curiosity.

"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here..."

"My brothers Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly, still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet..."

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elfs," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.

"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.

"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elfin the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"

"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."

Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"

"Erm..." Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars." He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible," said Sirius.

"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers...Cornelius Fudge...the Malfoys..."

"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"

"Anyone else?" said Sirius.

"No one," said Harry.

"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"

"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."

"Not that you need it", Laurel said as she nudged Harry quietly.

"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"

"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry.

"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.

Laurel listened intently as Sirius talked. For someone that had lost twelve years in prison, Laurel had to admit he was very smart. It was like he hadn't been affected at all by the dementors. He was completely sane.

Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes.

"What's the time?"

"It's half past three," said Hermione.

"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen..." He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."

Laurel, Ron and Hermione all looked at Harry, knowing he would want to come and see his godfather.

"And one last thing Harry", Sirius said, a twinkle in his grave eyes. "You kissed Laurel yet". Harry groaned in embarrassment, while Laurel blushed scarlet red as Sirius wagged his eyebrows at her.

"Sirius!" Harry said in exasperation. "I have actually", he winked at Laurel as Sirius high fived him.

"You're an idiot Harry", Laurel said in joke annoyance as she shoved him.

He handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."

He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. Laurel, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.

The next day, Laurel and Harry went back to the kitchen and got some more food for Sirius, Laurel felt horrible at the thought of him eating rats just to come and be closer to his godson. Harry was in the same boat, and was glad that they had Laurels handy bag with them, that way an owl could carry all the food they shoved into the bag. Hopefully Sirius would be able to eat better now.

After that, since it was Sunday, Laurel and Harry decided to spend some quality time together. There wasn't much you could do as a couple in a castle filled with students and teachers watching you, but they decided to go spend some time out on the grounds near the lake at their favourite spot.

Without the pressure of a task coming up soon, and both having finished all their homework for the week, it was good to finally have some time to relax and not think about the coming task. It was still weird having people see them acting like a couple together. Laurel had her head resting on Harry stomach, as they lay on the soft grass, enjoying the sun. Every time Harry breathed in and out, Laurels head moved slightly and she in turn would fidget every now and then her head would push against Harry's stomach.

They both watched as other students came down to, enjoying the good weather, and both laughed as students aw them together and awkwardly pick a different spot. People were kind of intimidated by Harry and his success in the tasks, when everyone had thought he'd have no chance at completing any of them, let alone win the first two tasks.

"You know", Harry said vaguely as he sleepily opened his eyes.

"Mmm", Laurel muttered in response, not moving.

"It's almost been three months since we've been together", Harry said casually.

"Best three months of my life", Laurel said sweetly as she poked Harry in the stomach.

"Bar the excessive poking", Harry joked as he caught her hand, capturing it to stop her annoying poking.

"If you wanted to hold my hand Harry all you had to do was ask", Laurel giggled as Harry got up, sending her to the ground.

"That's what you get woman", Harry said evilly. Laurel grinned at him.

"Oh yeah. Well get this", Laurel said as she sat on top of him, making him laugh before she fell over backwards.

"Oh Harry. I can see your best friend coming", Laurel said sarcastically as she righted herself.

"Hun", Harry said as he got up and stood next to her. Walking to towards them was none other than Malfoy and his two goons coming towards them. Malfoy looked extremely proud and smug as he strutted up to them, before tripping over a stick and stumbling as he righted himself. Laurel couldn't help it, she giggled at the sight, which seemed to have annoyed him. She felt Harry tense next to her, but she wasn't worried. Malfoy, even with his to sidekicks, couldn't handle both of them. Laurel hoped they'd keep walking, she didn't feel like dealing with them today.

"So, Potter", Malfoy said as he smirked at them. "Didn't get a change to congratulate you on earlier, can't believe you actually managed to get through the second task. Your parents must be so proud. Oh. Wait never mind", he finished in fake politeness. Beside him Crabbe, and Goyle sniggered, as Harry's hand tightened in her's. She squeezed him reassuringly. It was obvious Malfoy wanted a reaction from Harry. But Harry wasn't as rash and ready for a fight as he usually was. He was calmed and more mature this year.

"Shut off Malfoy. No one invited you here", Harry said calmly. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry's words.

"No manners Potter. Mark by words, your luck is going to run out in this tournament" the blonde boy said as he scowled at them.

"Yeah right Malfoy. Thanks for the tip. Now I believe we're finished", Harry said forcibly as he motioned for them to leave.

"You need to learn to respect your betters, you and you're little girlfriend. I bet you she's already spoiled", Malfoy said as he looked Laurel up and down. Laurel flushed in anger. It was one thing to call each other names, but to say something as rude and insulting as that was unacceptable in the pureblood society. Harry, not having understood what Malfoy had said, was still never the less angry at his comment. He was about to reply when Laurel beat him to it.

She pulled out her wand, quicker than anyone had expected, surprising even Harry at her actions as she glared at Malfoy.

"You'll regret that Malfoy. My house won't take to insults", she said low.

"Aqua Eructo", Laurel shouted, too quickly for Malfoy to defend himself. A jet of water shot out of her wand, blasting into Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, they were sent sprawling to the ground, soaking wet and spluttering as they regained their footing.

"You'll pay for that blood traitor", Malfoy said with venom as Harry came and stood in front of her protectively.

"Leave Malfoy, before you really get wet", Harry spoke up, glaring at the Slytherins. '

Surprisingly they did. Malfoy was muttering at he went.

Laurel looked at Harry. "Did you see me? I can't believe I just did that", Laurel said, shocked. She'd never in her life raised her wand to someone else and used it on a person, not counting practicing with other students.

"You were brilliant" Harry said as he grinned at her.

"I was wasn't I" Laurel said cheekily as she grinned at Harry.

They spent the rest of the day outside relaxing. No one else came over to bother them except a group of first year girls that started giggling at Harry before they ran off. It was a nice day. They ended up watching the sun set together and then just laying on the grass. It seemed like it was there thing. Being outside together laying down. Laurel wasn't complaining, she'd take being outside any day than being in the library or the dorm. It was peaceful outside.

Finally, when it was almost curfew, they slowly made their way up.

When they came to the stairs, Laurel playfully ran up, being chased by Harry.

"Come on Harry, getting slack aren't you. You should stop that second helping of treacle tart at dinner", Laurel teased as she ran from him.

"Got you", Harry exclaimed as he finally got a hold of her on the fifth floor.

"Is that any way to treat a lady", Laurel said as she lent in closer, so that they were nose to nose before she twisted out of his grasp and continued up. She was just coming up to the sixth floor when she started to feel funny and stopped.

"Laurel," Harry sang as he wrapped his arms around her. Laurel didn't response, causing Harry to drop his arms and look at her.

"You okay?" Harry asked in concern. Laurel looked as him.

"I don't know, I feel weird, like I'm going to," Laurels sentence was cut short when a tingle ran through her body and suddenly she was falling. She looked at Harry with wide terrified eyes before she fell through the marble floor as if it wasn't even there. She didn't have time to think or scream as she fell, confusion and fear dominating her mind. It all happened so suddenly, one moment she was falling and then the next, she slammed into a staircase below her. Her leg twisted sickeningly with a crack as it took in the impact, before her body fell backwards, hitting the marble floor, her head slamming into the ground.

Laurel didn't move. She couldn't process what had just happened. And then pain overwhelmed her senses as she cried out, curling up into a foetal position.

"Laurel! Laurel!" she heard Harry cry out, but she couldn't answer him, as she tried to breathe through the pain and tears. She felt Harry gently touch her face, and she opened her eyes.

"Harry", she whimpered.

"Don't worry Laurel. I've got you", Harry said as he tried to pick her up as gently as possible. Laurel tried not to let Harry know how much it hurt to be picked up. She bit into her lip to stop from crying out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's ok. I'll get to the nurse and you'll be fine in no time", Harry kept muttering. If she wasn't in so much pain Laurel would have laughed.

"What the blaze is going on!" Laurel didn't open her eyes, but knew the voice belonged to Professor Moody.

"Professor. You have to help. Laurel she just fell. I've got to get her to the hospital wing!" Harry struggled out; not stopping as he practically ran with Laurel in his arms. Laurel heard the clunk clunk clunk for Moody following. She was trying to breathe, but it was becoming painful even with the small amount of movement it took to draw breath. She grabbed onto Harry's robes after a particularly painful movement.

It felt like hours before they stopped. She heard rather than show Moody barrel in first, while Harry tried to talk to Laurel.

"Just a few more seconds and you'll be fine", Harry whispered into her ear, Laurel tugged at his robes to show she heard him.

"Put her down, gently, gently", Laurel heard Madam Pomfrey tell Harry as the nurse came along with Moody. Laurel finally opened her eyes and watched as the nurse shooed the wizard back.

"Drink this, it'll help with the pain", the kind nurse said to Laurel as she gave her a vial of potion. Without hesitating, Laurel drank it greedily before sighing in relief as the pain dulled. Now that Laurel could focus, she looked down at her leg, seeing it at a disturbing angle. She started panicking again, breathing is quick short breathes.

"Don't worry I can have that fixed in no time", the nurse said gently as she got to work. Laurel was aware that Harry and Moody had stayed, and were watching just as she was as the nurse fixed her leg, and well as the bit marks on her lips from biting into them. She also had a concussion, though mild, and had to take a few more potions to make sure her head would heal properly.

When the nurse finally deemed her healthy enough to leave her side, Harry was next to her in an instant.

"Laurel are you ok?" Harry asked in concern. She smiled tiredly up at him.

"I'm doing alright" she said quietly. Her leg was still sore, and madam Pomfrey had informed her that she would mostly likely have to take it easy for a week or so, and stay in the hospital wing at least for a day or two. But at least the pain was gone and her leg was back to its normal angle, she shuttered at the image of it broken.

Before she could say anything else, in walked Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore along with Moody by their side.

Laurel looked at Harry and they both had one thought, oh ho.

 **Authors note**

Cliffhanger! So for some reason Laurel keeps falling through walls and stuff. Kinda like Kitty off X men. So what is that gonna mean? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out.


	20. Shadow Walking

**Authors note**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; all characters belong to the talented J.K Rowling.

Chapter 20! Can't believe its 20 already. This was an exciting chapter to write, since I can finally explain some things. Please review BTW. Suggestions welcomed.

 **Chapter 20**

 **Shadow Walking**

As the teachers all gathered around Laurels bed, she felt like she was about to get into trouble. She looked at each of the Professors, but couldn't figure out what was going on by their vague expressions. Only Professor Dumbledore seemed to be curiously looking at her, while McGonagall was looking at her sternly like always, but with a touch of concern, and Moody was guarding his expression, not giving her any clue as to why he had gone to get the professors after her fall.

"There's no need to look so worried Miss Flamel," Dumbledore said kindly, as she met his kind old eyes. Harry was still beside her, holding her hand, and Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle when he noticed.

"What's going on Professor Dumbledore", Harry asked in confused. It wasn't normal for three professors to come visit a patient in the hospital so late at night.

"We wanted a recount on the incident that led to your fall Miss Flamel", Professor McGonagall said, clearly not impressed with Harry speaking out.

"But why does it matter. What's so important about it?" Madam Pomfrey said, clearly annoyed at them distressing Laurel. Laurel looked at Harry and they shared a look.

"I think it may shed some light on how Laurel managed to break her leg", Moody said roughly. Laurel really didn't want to tell them. It seemed stupid somehow, saying it. It sounded ridiculous.

Everyone looked at her, even Harry. Laurel sighed.

"This is going to sound so ridiculous", Laurel said, looking embarrassed.

"It's alright. Just try and explain it", Dumbledore said kindly.

"Ok...well. I really don't know what happened. One moment everything was normal, and then all of a sudden I was falling through the floor, and then well..." Laurel motioned to her leg.

"Peculiar", Dumbledore muttered.

"You didn't notice anything Potter?" Moody asked.

"No, one moment she was standing there, and the next it was like she'd just sunk through the floor, like it wasn't there", Harry explained. Laurel noticed Harry was looking very stressed out. Laurel guessed seeing her like that hadn't been the best experience.

"Miss Flamel. Have you ever experienced anything similar happening to you. Anything at all?" Moody asked. Laurel could have sworn he was leading to something but wanted some sort of confirmation first.

"No I don't think so," Laurel shock her head. "Wait". Laurel thought for a moment. She looked up into the professors faces.

"There have been a few times I recall not being able to pick something up, like my hand would go through the object. I just thought there was some sort of spell on the book. But then I remember vaguely waking up one night after falling off my bed. But it wasn't the fact that I'd fallen off, but I was under the bed, I fell straight under it. I brushed it off, thinking maybe I had just somehow rolled under the bed. I didn't think about it after that", Laurel explained.

"Does this have something to do with me falling?" Laurel asked in concern.

"We believe it has everything to do with your fall", Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling like mad.

"And..." Laurel said questioningly.

"We believe that you have a very rare form of magic that has slowly manifested throughout the school year", Dumbledore explained. Laurel looked at him, shocked.

"What do you mean? What form of magic?" Laurel stuttered, still shocked at this turn of events. Harry was silent beside her.

"I know it's a lot to take in after your incident tonight, but I will try to be as to the point as possible. This ability of yours is called shadow walking. It is such a rare form of magic that I have little knowledge of it. But I can tell you that one of the main abilities of shadow walking is the ability to become intangible, that is to say in simpler terms, walking through objects" Dumbledore continued.

"But why now? Why is this stuff only now happening to me?" Laurel said her voice higher than normal.

"That's a simple answer. You're magical core is increasing with age, and so now your magic is powerful enough to start using these shadow walking abilities, otherwise if your core wasn't strong enough, you'd be getting fatigued and tired after using your magic. It's also a reason why students are only allowed to start using a wand when they turn 11 and come to Hogwarts, to young and their core wouldn't have stabilized and the same result would take affect", Dumbledore said.

"Ok", Laurel said slowly, her mind trying to process everything.

"But Professor?" Harry said as everyone turned to him.

"Yes Mr Potter".

"How can Laurel control this shadow walking ability? You've already seen what can happen to her".

Moody stepped forward. "I believe practice is the only way to get a handle of these powers. Professor McGonagall is willing to let Miss Flamel out of classes for the next week, and we will all be overseeing Laurel to help her gain control of her powers so that this doesn't happen again".

Laurel tensed. She didn't like Moody. He just gave her a bad vibe.

"Your safely is the most important issue at hand", Professor McGonagall added as she looked at Laurel concern. Laurel smiled timidly back.

"One more question Professor," Laurel said as she met Dumbledore's eyes. "How did you figure this out?"

"Ah I believe Moody can answer that question", Dumbledore said. Laurel turned to him.

"I saw you fall. This eye comes in handy. There aren't many explanations for what I saw. And your other examples proved it", Professor Moody explained simply. Laurel nodded.

"I would also like to remind you to be cautious in regards to the people you reveal this knowledge to. Mr Potter I'm sure, we can trust to keep this to himself", Dumbledore spoke up as he looked at Harry, who nodded seriously.

"I trust Harry, and Ron and Hermione", Laurel said tiredly as she sagged against the pillows propping her up.

"Now I think it's time to leave Miss Flamel to get some rest. Mr Potter, Professor Moody will take you back to the Gryffindor common rooms since is it now past curfew", Dumbledore said as they left her. She had wanted Harry to stay, at least to say goodbye to him in private, but Moody was already dragging him away. Harry looked back at her and waved and Laurel smiled at him before she fell asleep, not worrying about any of the information that she'd just been told.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next day Laurel woke up in confusion, wondering where is was, before remembering last night. It seemed like it had all been a dream. Falling, breaking her leg, and then getting told she had this rare ability to walk through solid walls.

Her leg was still sore, and her head was tender from the fall, but Laurel felt much better than she had yesterday. When she looked at the clock on the wall next to her bed, Laurel was surprised to realise she'd slept past breakfast and the first period, and it was almost lunch time.

"Ah you're awake. Here drink this, then you can have something to eat", Madam Pomfrey said as she fussed at Laurel. Laurel smiled and thanked the nurse as she handed her a potion.

"You missed your friends this morning. Young Mr Potter was very keen on seeing you", Pomfrey commented as she put some vials on the bedside table.

"Really", Laurel asked, blushing.

"Yes, I practically had to chase him away", the nurse muttered in annoyance.

"What's this one do?" Laurel asked curiously after she drank the vial of potion.

"It helps the body heal quicker. But nothing beats time and rest", the nurse replied.

"Can I ask you how you healed my leg last night?" Laurel said, she might as well learn something.

"Mmm interested in becoming a healer are you?" the nurse said as she looked down at Laurel.

"Well maybe, I've been thinking about it. But I don't know", Laurel said truthfully. She had been studying more spells and potions that had to do with healing, mostly because she was always getting injured or Harry was. It just seemed like the smart thing to do. It was useful having the knowledge to heals wounds and brew potions to help others. But maybe making a career out of it was an idea. Laurel had never given it much thought, what she would do when she graduated. Maybe she could ask Pomfrey some questions.

"Well it's usually quiet slow during the weekdays, so you can ask me anything you like dear", Madam Pomfrey said kindly.

So Laurel did. Apparently to become a healer, a witch or wizard needed to first complete their education, with O's in potions, transfiguration, charms and herbology. These were the main subjects that applied to becoming a healer. After that, you had to find an apprentice to study under for four years. It seems like a very long time, but once those four years were completed, you were then a qualified healer. It was also possible to start your apprenticeship early if you could find someone willing to take on a student, as well as finding a way to get through the work load along with school work. It was doable, and now that Laurel had more information, she was feeling more confident on the decision to become a healer.

Harry came and visited her during lunch, along with Ron and Hermione. Laurel had just finished her own lunch when they arrived, and brightened up at seeing them walk in.

"Harry!" Laurel said lovingly as he practically flew to her bed, grabbing her hand and checking to make sure that she was indeed fine.

"Laurel. How's your leg", Harry replied anxiously. Laurel smiled up at him tenderly.

"Better now. Thanks to madam Pomfrey, and you", Laurel said softly.

"Bloody hell Laurel. How'd you end up breaking your leg? All Harry said was that you tripped," Ron said loudly.

"Ron! It's not like Laurel planned it. How are you though? I brought you notes on the classes you missed this morning so that you could look them over", Hermione said, shooting Ron a look before looking at Laurel in concern.

"I'm fine, really guys. Thanks Hermione I'll look at that later. I think I'll be out for a few more days, if you wouldn't mind taking notes for me as well".

Hermione nodded seriously at the task. "But what happened, how'd you actually break your leg. All Harry said was you tripped down the stairs", Hermione asked curiously. Laurel shared a look with Harry. Laurel then looked around to make sure no one else was around.

"You guys cannot tell anyone. Dumbledore doesn't want anyone knowing", Laurel started. Ron and Hermione looked at her in surprise and shock, they hadn't of thought it was serious.

"What do you mean? How can you falling and breaking your leg cause Dumbledore to want to keep it a secret", Hermione asked as she looked at Laurel as if studying her. Ron just looked confused.

"Well, Harry already knows. So I'm going to tell you guys as well since I trust you. But I didn't just trip and fall. I actually fell through the floor. Apparently Dumbledore thinks I have this ability to walk through solid objects. Dumbledore called in shadow walking", Laurel explained. Before they could reply, the nurse walked past from her office before checking that Laurel was still fine, before leaving again.

"Wait, you can walk through walls?" Ron asked, perplexed.

"Well...yeah. I guess so. I can't control it though. Which is why I fell through the floor and ending up hurting myself", Laurel said as she motioned to her leg, grimacing.

"Now she has to start taking private lessons with Dumbledore and Moody and McGonagall to learn how to control it," Harry added in. Harry was now sitting on the side of her bed, his back resting on the wall, and Laurel was curled into his side.

"Bloody hell. There all taking time out to teach you. That sounds serious", Ron said.

"Well she did break her leg already Ron. Honestly, if this happened again she could end up seriously hurt or worse. Your really lucky you didn't do more damage and Dumbledore figured out what's wrong", Hermione said tensely.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that to", Harry muttered.

"Mmm, about what?" Laurel asked as she looked up at him.

"How did Dumbledore and McGonagall get there so quickly and figure it out before questioning you?" Harry spoke up.

"You said Moody was near you when it happened, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Laurel and Harry together, before smiling at each other at their own words.

"Well his eye does see through walls, he probably saw you fall and put it together and got the other professors", Hermione said factually.

"Makes sense", Laurel said, shrugging.

"So when does your training start?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. Probably tomorrow or the next day, once I can walk again," Laurel said. She still hadn't tried to walk on her leg; it was still sore and tender.

"It's exciting though isn't it? I mean, there must be all sorts of things you could do with this shadow walking ability. I wonder what else you can do, I've never even heard of it before", Hermione said curiously.

"I guess I'll find out soon enough," Laurel said.

"Long as you don't go falling through floors again," Harry said seriously.

"I'm sure the professors will make sure that doesn't happen again", Laurel said as she yawned.

"You guys should probably go get some lunch before you have to get back to class," Laurel told her friends.

"Yeah I'm starving guys. If we don't hurry we'll have to wait until dinner", Ron whinged, now that food was on his mind, there was no stopping him.

"You guys go ahead, I'm not hungry", Harry said. Ron and Hermione paused.

"You sure? I'll grab you something in case you get hungry later", Ron said as they left.

"You don't have to stay Harry. You should go and eat", Laurel said softly as Harry's fingers entwined with hers.

"I don't mind," Harry said as he shook his head. "Plus, I wanted to spend some time with you".

"I never did thank you again, for carrying me to the hospital wing", Laurel said, as she snuggled into his side. Harry wrapped his arms around her.

"You're welcome. Though looking after you is beginning to look like a full time job", Harry said cheekily as the serious tension in the air evaporated.

"Prat", Laurel swatted him with her hand. There were now back in their normal routine, joking and mucking around.

"Have you thought about what you'll learn about with the Professors", Harry asked casually.

"Not really. It is kind of exciting isn't it? I mean, once I actually learn how to not fall through things", Laurel replied absentmindedly as she played with Harry's fingers. "But hopefully I'll get some information on shadow walking; it sounds like its more than just walking through walls and such".

"Wish I could come with you and watch", Harry said.

"I'll just have to fill you in after", Laurel replied.

Harry stayed for a little while longer, until it was time for the afternoon classes to start. Without anyone to talk to, Laurel was starting to get bored. She'd already read the notes that Hermione had given her, and didn't have anything to do now. It was too early to go to bed but she decided to sleep anyway. Sleep was good for healing.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The next day started out the same as the day before. Harry came and visited her in the morning with Ron and Hermione. She'd requested some books to read, and Hermione had delivered. As well as having all the notes from the previous day's classes, Laurel now had something to do besides sleep.

As well as studying, sometimes a student would come in with an injury. Laurel would watch madam Pomfrey with the student an even get a small lesson on what potions she was giving to her patient and why. It was fun. Laurel was even walking again herself, even if she was very slow and stiff on her recently broken leg.

It was only that afternoon that things started to get interesting. Laurel had been quietly studying when Professor Dumbledore had strolled in, as casual as if he were walking through diagon ally.

"Good afternoon Miss Flamel," the older professor said. Laurel looked up from her book and smiled timidly at the powerful wizard.

"Good afternoon Professor Dumbledore", Laurel replied automatically as she sat up on her bed.

"I'd like to inform you that Professor Moody will be starting your first lesson tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. He'll meet you in the first classroom on the ground floor. We thought it would be wise to train on the ground floor", Laurel smiled at the small joke as Dumbledore chuckled.

"That's probably a good idea Sir," Laurel said with a hint of sarcasm as she tried not to roll her eyes.

"May I ask you a question Sir?" Laurel asked her tone polite again.

"Mmm why of course", Dumbledore said kindly.

"Why is it so important that this ability of mine be kept secret? Surely it isn't that big of a deal?"

"Quite the contrary. There are many witches and wizards in this world looking for power. Power that you have", Dumbledore looked at her seriously and Laurel gulped. "And as a student of mine it is my duty to make sure you are aware of this. It isn't something you want in the wrong hands".

"Oh, I guess I understand that," Laurel sighed.

"Now I'll leave you to rest, goodnight Miss Flamel", Dumbledore said and with a twinkle in his blue eyes and a swirl of his beard he was gone.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

The following day, Laurel was waiting anxiously for Professor Moody in the classroom assigned to her training. Laurel was glad to be out and about again, she was finally discharged from the hospital wing and would be going back to the Gryffindor common room for the first time after her lesson this afternoon. She'd wished she could be there to help Harry train for the third task, but he understood the importance of her training in her shadow walking abilities.

With a clunk, clunk, clunk she looked up as Professor Moody walked in, shutting the door and waving his wand over it, as a blue light shone over the door before disappearing.

"Precaution," the teacher muttered as he surveyed the room. "This will do. Right before we begin. You need to understand the basics of shadow walking". Moody slammed a textbook down on the desk Laurel was sitting at. Startled, Laurel jumped and looked down at the book, magic of the rare and powerful by Helia Ashwood.

"Page 109, begin", Laurel was shocked by his blunt approach, but never the less nodded before flipping to said page. It read,

 _Shadow walking, known vaguely as the ability for a witch or wizard to become intangible with objects in contact with said person. This ability is a rarity, with only a handful of witches and wizards being documented throughout history as having developed said ability. The most notable being Merlin's daughter. Although the ability to pass through solid matter is the main ability of shadow walking, there are in fact other abilities that develop, depending on how powerful the said person is. Astral projection is another power that is associated with shadow walking. Dematerializing is another power documented of shadow walkers. Though these powers are described, it cannot be said that these powers alone made up the shadow walking abilities and as such there are other powers that could also be labelled in this category._

"Is that all there is?" Laurel asked as she finished reading the very short paragraph. That couldn't be all there was, could there?

"Yes that's all there is. It wasn't easy finding even that one reference. It's not a common ability as you just read", Moody said stiffly as his good eye looked at her, while the other eye was looking somewhere else.

"This is all going to be mostly guess work. Which is why we're taking this fast. Until you learn how to control your ability you'll be put under strict supervision".

"Great," Laurel muttered as she closed the book.

"Now", the professor said loudly. "We'll start off slowly today. All I want is to see if you can focus on getting your hand through that desk your sitting in. You need to focus on how you felt the last few times you've accessed this power and focus on what you want to happen".

Laurel thought it was a bit rich, asking her to do something that she didn't know how to control. It's not like she could do it on command. It just happened.

"But I don't know how it happened the last time. It just did", Laurel said slowly, trying to explain it.

"Look, I'm not going to baby you through this. Dumbledore wants you to learn how to do this. And the only way you're going to be able to is if you try. You've done it once, you can do it again", the professor grumbled out as both eyes focused on her.

"I'll try then", Laurel said softly. Taking a deep breath, Laurel braced herself and focused on her right hand and willed it to go through the desk. She slowly moved her hand down to the desk, she was just touching it and then she moved her hand lower, feeling the desk, before pushing her hand against it. Nothing happened, her hand stayed right where it was, the desk was as solid as it had been to begin with.

And that's now the rest of the lesson went. With each passing minute Laurel got more and more frustrated, while Moody became louder until they stopped for the night. By the end of it, Laurels hand was sore from pushing against the wood of the desk and she had a headache from trying to focus. Her mood was down as she walked back up to the Gryffindor common room. Maybe they were wrong and she didn't have this shadow walking ability? Maybe it was been something else. They had jumped too quickly into their theory, maybe Dumbledore and Moody were wrong and she didn't have this rare ability. It was slightly saddening to think that she didn't have it. It was kind of cool, having a special power.

But by the end of the week Laurel finally had progress. She was in the same classroom with Moody, who had spent the last couple of afternoons getting more and more frustrated with her when Laurel started to get angry and annoyed at the ex auror. He acted like what she was trying to do was the easiest thing in the world, like learning a new spell, not learning a new power that she didn't know how to actually use.

And so as her frustrating peaked, she angrily focused and willed her hand to go through the desk, just to stop Moody grumbling at her. And to both there shock, it did. Laurel looked dumbfounded as her hand went straight through the desk she wiggled her fingers from under the desk, and moved her hand around, testing her newfound ability. It was hard, focusing on her hand to become intangible, and she quickly pulled her hand away after a second, fearing that it would get stuck.

"How that's more like it Flamel," Moody grumbled out, always in his ever present scowl. Laurel thought took no notice as she smiled proudly as her accomplishment.

"Don't get all cocky now. You barely did anything girl. Get back to it", Professor Moody growled out. Laurel huffed at him, not pleased anymore and glared at him behind his back, not caring that he'd probably seen her. And so that's how her week went.


End file.
